What Does Squee Mean?
Fandom CultureThe high-pitched sound of fannish joy, and the joy itself — squeeing is enthusing without restraint. Both noun and verb, always affectionate.
Squee in Practice
Squee is onomatopoeia institutionalized: the delighted noise a fan makes at good news, a perfect scene, or a beloved trope executed flawlessly, written down and adopted as the official name for that entire emotional register. The word peaked in LiveJournal-era fandom, where 'squee posts' and squeeing in comments were standard practice and communities distinguished spaces for squee (pure enthusiasm) from spaces for crit. It survives today with a faint vintage glow, used half-nostalgically by fans who remember when it was the default verb of excitement. The concept it names is timeless, though — modern keysmashing and all-caps tag commentary are squee under new management.
Example usage
"Her comment was 90% squee and 10% keysmash, which is exactly what an author wants to wake up to."
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