i think especially with relatively near future sci-fi and alternate present/just off reality sci-fi and fantasy, it’s a lot more effective to play off of “this word is the same, but the thing it refers to is in fact different than what you’ll initially picture or assume” than to invent a bunch of cutesy fake slang (again, ESPECIALLY for things we already have good words for)
like, for a real life example of what im talking about– we had “phones” in 1977, and we still have “phones” in 2017, but MAN would a time traveler from the 70s be confused by the things we call “phones” now, and the ways we use and relate to them– “im typing this text post on my phone, and autocorrect keeps cramping my style” is a straightforward and easily understandable sentence to me in 2017. it would sound like word salad to someone from 1977. (how can you TYPE something on a PHONE?? what does “post” mean in this context, or “text”? the fuck is “autocorrect”??)
but we still call them “phones”, you know, and not, idk, “cyberrectangles”
interplanetary shuttle system makes use of automated, pre-scheduled wormholes to get you to your day job on mars every morning – still called taking the bus.
super high-tech window protectors that keep out the deadly light of the ultra-bright sun? “close the curtains, tom, it’s almost dawn.”
your zero-g space station’s air filtration system is malfunctioning, threatening to cause a fiery explosion as all the waste co2 builds up in the engine room rather than the greenhouse? time to call the plumber.
Every other day you have to go out and squeegee the space dust accumulating on your solar panels… it’s still called “dusting.”
Light cargo shuttles used for transporting a few passengers at a time, or maybe small packages, they still call them cars.
Every six months, you have to replace the layer of ablative panels on your car, designed to absorb micrometeor impacts, they still call it an undercoating, and garages still overcharge you for it, but it’s definitely worth the reduced maintenance costs in the long run.
Consider how the terms we use now could change depending on context, tho:
“Stellar” as short for “interstellar,” meaning “vast nothingness, really boring.” so: “How was the concert?” “Meh… pretty stellar, I guess.” “Oh, sorry.” “So, how was your weekend?” “Family gathering, it was toootally stellar.”
Suns radiate tremendous quantities of lethal radiation, so when you say your day was “sunny,” it means you nearly died five times just getting out of bed… which, depending on the space station, isn’t much of a stretch (picture: reaching over to hit the snooze alarm, and hitting the airlock instead). Having a “sunny” disposition means “your expression conveys murderous rage.”
“Chill” in reference to the cold hard vacuum of space, so when someone says “chill out,” it’s equivalent to saying “go jump out the airlock and die.”
Even just a small adjustment to how we use contemporary words can signal to the audience that we’re using them differently – in the first example, compare “close the curtains” with “drop the curtain.”
