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Origin of the term "SQUID"
Now supposedly this term originated in the makeup effects community, and the legend goes on to say that a particular artist coined this term back in the late 80's, or thereabouts. The term has been VERY commonly used in this neck of the woods in the last fifteen years or so.
The idea behind it, supposedly, is that a "squid" was the sort of person that, if they saw a really rare magazine or photo or sculpture or some such desireable item, they would be unable to keep their hands off it, and would suddenly seem to grow tentacles that would reach out and grab for the thing. Poetically, that's what the term means.
Now at first, this was treated as an elitist term that was used to separate "fans" from "professionals." It became used as a light insult.
But this usage of the term was short-lived. Why? Because the artist types using it realized that it was essentially wrong to criticize a fan for being a fan, when in fact that very quality of fandom is what got them wherever they were professionally in the first place, in a sense. (Fandom = love for the genre(s) = what we all care about anyway, so why be condescending.)
So within a few years, the usage of the term mutated to mean "any really devoted fan." Gradually in the makeup effects community it became an emblem of pride (albeit a humorously embarassing one) to call oneself a "squid."
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