Space Cadet - the term means?

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pgd
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18 Nov 2010, 7:17 am

What does the term - space cadet - mean?

Bunneth
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18 Nov 2010, 7:28 am

It means someone who's lost in their own thoughts/world a lot, as in "they're lost on space and not on planet earth".

Simonono
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18 Nov 2010, 7:44 am

I am a Space Cadet, then!

Bunneth
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18 Nov 2010, 7:45 am

You're in good company Simonono

Robdemanc
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18 Nov 2010, 8:21 am

I thought it meant somebody who takes too many drugs. They are always spaced out.

wavefreak58
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18 Nov 2010, 8:50 am

Robdemanc wrote:

I thought it meant somebody who takes too many drugs. They are always spaced out.

It can also mean that. The "spaced out" part is key. I was always spaced out when I was a kid but it wasn't from drugs. I was regularly called a space cadet or something similar, especially by family.

Janissy
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18 Nov 2010, 9:04 am

wavefreak58 wrote:

Robdemanc wrote:

I thought it meant somebody who takes too many drugs. They are always spaced out.

Yes, the "in space, not here on earth" is key.

For anybody who is wondering why the "cadet" part is there (instead of just "spacey" or "spaced out") there was a popular TV show with comics, movies and novels about a "space cadet" in the 50's. Lots of 40's and 50's science fiction was about how wonderful space travel would be and about the colonization of space and "space cadets" were part of an elite group doing this. The 50's TV show, movies, comics etc. were based on a 40's novel that introduced the term "space cadet". At the time, in that sci-fi universe, "space cadet" was what was coming in the future after "astronaut".

My Dad and uncle (classic 50's nerds) enjoyed the Space Cadet series and spinoffs. Probably so did everybody else at the time with access to poular culture and a "nerdy" neurology. Non-nerds started using "space cadet" as an anti-nerd insult at the time to refer to (nerdy) people who enjoyed the series and to people whose minds were "in space" generally. Once the 50's ended, the knowledge that it used to be part of a pop culture phenom was lost and only the term remained.

All this info my Dad told me when I got into sci-fi in my own youth (the 70's) and he pointed me to the historical sci-fi. Nerds are frequently the parents of autists, as I am.

PatrickNeville
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18 Nov 2010, 9:08 am

Amongst me and people I know, space cadet usually just means that someone is being stupid or is being a crazy or out this world so to say.

It can also mean someone who has taken lots of drugs as well.

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caligirl
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18 Nov 2010, 9:31 am

probably why when I was little my family would say "earth to (my name)"

wavefreak58
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18 Nov 2010, 10:13 am

caligirl wrote:

probably why when I was little my family would say "earth to (my name)"

Yup. Not in a warm, friendly manner, either. It was definitely a pejorative.

sgrannel
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18 Nov 2010, 10:18 am

Spaced out, and not from drugs, either!

The "Earth to .." line is always annoying. If it's difficult for me to pretend to be interested in what the Earthlings are doing, then maybe it's because I'm really not.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf

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Robdemanc
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19 Nov 2010, 5:55 am

wavefreak58 wrote:

Robdemanc wrote:

I thought it meant somebody who takes too many drugs. They are always spaced out.

I never got called a space cadet but my mother always said I was a daydreamer and "always in my own world". My family thought I was a weirdo when I got to teenage years. Sometimes I don't think I have forgiven them.

LovingHappiness
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20 Nov 2010, 2:53 am

I think it's a very American term, I only really heard about it when reading the autism books by American authors.

spacecadetdave
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20 Nov 2010, 1:01 pm

pgd wrote:

What does the term - space cadet - mean?

It means me dude.....

It's the name I've carried with me for the last 30 years. So I suppose everyone knew there was something "odd" about me even back then.

Squirrelrat
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20 Nov 2010, 1:09 pm

It means prone to spacing out or daydreaming without realizing it.

Kon
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20 Nov 2010, 1:14 pm

I've been called a bit of "space cadet" for as long as I can remember.

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