Shmups - Written and Oral Etiquette

Shmup is shorthand for shoot-em-up, or 2D shooters like Gradius and Space Invaders. The term was invented for the purpose of abbreviation when writing, or more specifically, typing on the internet. It also serves to further differentiate 2D shooters from First-Person Shooters or Third-Person Shooters. That is all nice and dandy, but it should not be used in speech.

"Shmup" sounds a lot like "shmuck," which sounds a lot like "fuck." It's not the most classy-sounding word, and thus, shouldn't be uttered in speech. Leave "shmup" for the written word, and instead say "2D shooter" or even the full "shoot-em-up" to describe the genre.

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