Shmoo The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip Li'l Abner on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop culture, language, geopolitics, human history, and even science.
What does Shmoo stand for?
The shmoo (plural: shmoon, also shmoos) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–79); the character first appeared in its classic comic strip Li'l Abner on August 31, 1948.
What is the meaning of Shoo?
Hint: Shoo is often used as a command. Shoo! Go outside. Often used to describe “the march of time,” what does inexorable mean? Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
What is the meaning of smooth as a shmoo?
In Larry Niven 's Known Space stories, an alien species known as the Bandersnatch, also edible and intelligent, is described as being "smooth as a shmoo". In the novel The Forge of God by Greg Bear, "Shmoo" is the name humans give to the race of robots that visits Earth, due to their similar shape.
What is shmooing in biology?
In fact, the cellular bulge that is produced by a haploid yeast cell as a response to a pheromone from the opposite mating type (either a or α -factor) is referred to as a "shmoo", because cells that are undergoing mating and present this particular structure resemble the cartoon character. The whole process is known to biologists as "shmooing".
Is shmoo a word?
No, shmoo is not in the scrabble dictionary.
What does a shmoo do?
Shmoo was a tiny animal who only did good. Shmoo laid eggs and gave milk, both Grade A, of course. When you looked at one as though you would like to eat it, it died out of sheer will to please you.
What was a shmoo in Little Abner?
troduced an armless pear-shaped character called the Shmoo into his daily "Li'l Abner" strip. The unusual creature loved humans. A Shmoo laid eggs and bottles of Grade A milk in an instant, and would gladly die and change itself into a sizzling steak if its owner merely looked at it hungrily.
What does shmoo mean in Hebrew?
n. A fool; a jerk.
What does shmoo mean in Yiddish?
It has been speculated by that shmoo was a thinly veiled phallic symbol, and that the name derives from Yiddish schmuck (schmo) meaning 'male genitalia' or a 'fool, contemptuous person' (Arthur Asa Berger and Allan H. Orrick of Johns Hopkins).
What is a shmoo drink?
The Leading Thickshake Concept Today Shmoo is the No. 1 milkshake package available to UK caterers. Blended with milk or ice Shmoo creates delicious thick, ice cream textured milkshakes and iced cappuccinos consistently and with ease.
What is yeast shmoo?
Sometimes, yeast cells reproduce sexually, by mating. The mating process involves one cell of each sex joining together, then mixing their DNA and splitting apart again. To do this, the cells each have to produce a nodule that they can join together, called a shmoo. The process of shmooing takes around two hours.
Are you familiar with the shmoo?
The Boss : Are you familiar with the Shmoo? The Boss : Look at me, look at me smile, your son is dead! The Boss : That's all there is to it.
What is a shmoo drink?
The Leading Thickshake Concept Today Shmoo is the No. 1 milkshake package available to UK caterers. Blended with milk or ice Shmoo creates delicious thick, ice cream textured milkshakes and iced cappuccinos consistently and with ease.
Are you familiar with the shmoo?
The Boss : Are you familiar with the Shmoo? The Boss : Look at me, look at me smile, your son is dead! The Boss : That's all there is to it.
What does the word Schmoo mean?
schmo in American English (ʃmou) nounWord forms: plural schmoes. slang. a foolish, boring, or stupid person; a jerk. Also: schmoe.
How do you make a shmoo milkshake at home?
1) Pour the milk into a jug, adding the Shmoo powder, syrup and crushed digestives. 2) Place on the Shmoo machine for 25 seconds until mixture is thick and pour into the glass. 3) Working from the rim of the glass, towards the centre, carefully add the squirty cream, building height as you work inwards.
What is a shmoo?
A shmoo is shaped like a plump bowling pin with stubby legs. It has smooth skin, eyebrows, and sparse whiskers—but no arms, nose, or ears. Its feet are short and round, but dexterous, as the shmoo's comic book adventures make clear. It has a rich gamut of facial expressions and often expresses love by exuding hearts over its head.
How to catch shmoo?
Usually shmoo hunters, now a sport in some parts of the country, use a paper bag, flashlight, and stick to capture their shmoos. At night the light stuns them, then they may be whacked in the head with the stick and put in the bag for frying up later on.
What is the Shmoo sequence?
The sequence, which ended just before Christmas of 1948, was massively popular, both as a commentary on the state of society and a classic allegory of greed and corruption tarnishing all that is good and innocent in the world. The Shmoo caused an unexpected national sensation, and set the stage for a major licensing phenomenon. In their very few subsequent appearances in Li'l Abner, shmoos also are identified by the U.S. military as a major threat to national security .
Why did the Shmoos end?
The mythic tale ends on a deliberately ironic note. Shmoos are officially declared a menace, and systematically hunted down and slaughtered —because they were deemed "bad for business". The much-copied story line was a parable that was interpreted in many different ways at the outset of the Cold War. Al Capp was even invited to go on a radio show to debate socialist Norman Thomas on the effect of the Shmoo on modern capitalism .
Why is Shmoo a mascot?
In fact, the cellular bulge that is produced by a haploid yeast cell as a response to a pheromone from the opposite mating type (either a or α -factor) is referred to as a "shmoo", because cells that are undergoing mating and present this particular structure resemble the cartoon character. The whole process is known to biologists as "shmooing". Shmoos are essential; without them, we would have neither bread nor beer. The word "shmoo" has appeared in nearly 700 science publications since 1974; it is used in labs studying the bread- and beer-making species Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
How many shmoos were sold in 1948?
In a single year, shmoo merchandise generated more than $25 million in sales in 1948 dollars (equivalent to $269 million in 2020).
What are the characteristics of a shmoo?
Cartoonist Al Capp ascribed to the shmoo the following curious characteristics: They reproduce asexually and are incredibly prolific, multiplying faster than rabbits. They require no sustenance other than air.
Is it correct to spell "misspelled"?
Please note that the spelling in the list below is correct; any other spellings aren't considered to be correct by American English standards.
Is spelling difficult?
Indeed, spelling can difficult. There are so many rules and, worst of all, the rules aren't always applied in the same way. So, how can you become a master speller without a concrete set of guidelines to abide by? Well, there are a couple hints you can keep in mind.
Overview
The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip Li'l Abner on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop culture, language, geopolitics, human history, and even science.
Description
A shmoo is shaped like a plump bowling pin with stubby legs. It has smooth skin, eyebrows, and sparse whiskers—but no arms, nose, or ears. Its feet are short and round, but dexterous, as the shmoo's comic book adventures make clear. It has a rich gamut of facial expressions and often expresses love by exuding hearts over its head. Cartoonist Al Capp ascribed to the shmoo the following curious characteristics:
The original story
In a sequence beginning in late August 1948, Li'l Abner discovers the shmoos when he ventures into the forbidden "Valley of the Shmoon" following the mysterious and musical sound they make (from which their name derives). Abner is thrown off a cliff and into the valley below by a primitive "large gal" (as he addresses her), whose job is to guard the valley. (This character is never seen again.) There, against the frantic protestations of a naked, heavily bearded old man who shepher…
Origins
Al Capp offered his version of the origin of the Shmoo in a wryly satirical article, "I Don't Like Shmoos", in Cosmopolitan (June 1949):
I was driving from New York City to my farm in New Hampshire. The top of my car was down, and on either side of me I could see the lush and lovely New England countryside... It was the good earth at its generous summertime best, offering gifts to all. And the thought that came to me wa…
Analysis
The Shmoo, any literate person must know, was one of history's most brilliant utopian satires.— The Baltimore Sun, 2002
"Capp is at his allegorical best in the epics of the Shmoos, and later, the Kigmies", wrote comic strip historian Jerry Robinson (in The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art, 1974). "Shmoos are the world's most amiable creatures, supplying all man's needs. Like a fertility myth gone berse…
Reception
The Shmoo inspired hundreds of "Shmoo clubs" all over North America. College students—who had made Capp's invented idea of the Sadie Hawkins dance a universally adopted tradition—flocked to the Shmoo as well. One school, the University of Bridgeport, even launched the "American Society for the Advancement of the Shmoo" in early 1949.
Licensing history
Of course, it was merchandised to death. I think they even had shmoo toilet seats.— Al Capp, Cartoonist PROfiles #37, March 1978
An unexpected—and virtually unprecedented—postwar merchandising phenomenon followed Capp's introduction of the Shmoo in Li'l Abner. As in the strip, shmoos suddenly appeared to be everywhere in 1949 and 1950—includin…
In popular culture
• Frank Sinatra, who was frequently spoofed by Al Capp in Li'l Abner, has a line in the MGM musical On the Town (1949) about cops "multiplyin' like shmoos!"
• Florence King refers to owning a ceramic shmoo, which she threw out of her window after reading the books of Ayn Rand.
• In the 1990 movie Book of Love, the character Crutch wins a stuffed shmoo at a carnival.