Shout-out

Synonyms:
See also:	fan service, Tuckerization
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A shout-out is similar to fan service in that it is inclusion of something in a fanwork that is an inside-joke, or nod, to a fan.

Whereas fan service is done by TPTB for fans, a shout-out is done by fans for fans.

From a fan in 2001:

Well, I haven't actually seen a definition of it, only inferred it from the ways I've seen it used in Buffy fandom. AFAIK, a shout-out is an external reference, a nod and wink to the audience, a breaking of the fourth wall. For example, I'm working on a Buffyfic called Covalence; one of the beta-group needed Willow to say something about schoolwork in *her* fic, so she dropped in a reference to covalent bonds as a shout-out to my fic. That one's very small and unlikely to be noticed by anyone outside the beta-group; but shout-outs vary widely in size (and thus in the amount they distract the reader, IMO).

Another 2001 comment:

The term "Shout out" itself comes from the rap/hip-hop vocabulary, where it means basically "saying hi"--"lemme give a shout-out to my buddy Drew back home..." Fanfic shout-outs are usually a little more subtle--naming a character for someone, using a catch phrase used by the person's friends in real life, etc.