The new extremists were called “stans,” a term originated by the rapper Eminem, whose 2000 song “Stan” spins a demented parable about a guy who blows a gasket after his icon won’t answer his fan letters. Conspicuously, the word is also a perfect hybrid of “stalker” and “fan.” The stans all had monastic names, like Barbz and Little Monsters and Beliebers and Swifties.
