# Nov Shmov Kapop
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [August 10, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279 "2004-08-10T23:13:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Robert\_Kipniss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert_Kipniss)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/1 "2004-08-10T23:13:25Z")
I can’t remember the name of a toon strip I used to read, but in each weekly instalment there appeared the words-Nov Shmov Kapop. I’ve heard that there is a language in which thi sphrase has meaning. Does anyone know the name of this toon strip from the 1930’s and possibly into the 1940’s? And if this indeed is a real language, which one is it and what does it mean?
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### Author:  [@Carcosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carcosa)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/2 "2004-08-10T23:30:37Z")
> [@Robert Kipniss](#):
>
> I can’t remember the name of a toon strip I used to read, but in each weekly instalment there appeared the words-Nov Shmov Kapop. I’ve heard that there is a language in which thi sphrase has meaning. Does anyone know the name of this toon strip from the 1930’s and possibly into the 1940’s? And if this indeed is a real language, which one is it and what does it mean?
Interesting. I know that phrase from Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, who would sometimes use that as a sign off at the end of his essays.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/3 "2004-08-10T23:32:24Z")
The comic was called The Squirrel Cage by Gene Ahern. The character who held up the “Nov Shmoz Ka Pop?” sign was called the Little Hitchhiker. It doesn’t mean anything.
I’ve never actually _seen_ this strip, but I used to see the phrase referenced in old Mad magazines.
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### Author:  [@Carcosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carcosa)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/4 "2004-08-10T23:34:05Z")
> [@Robert Kipniss](#):
>
> I can’t remember the name of a toon strip I used to read, but in each weekly instalment there appeared the words-Nov Shmov Kapop. I’ve heard that there is a language in which thi sphrase has meaning. Does anyone know the name of this toon strip from the 1930’s and possibly into the 1940’s? And if this indeed is a real language, which one is it and what does it mean?
[scroll down to second half of page](http://bobbuethe.tripod.com/cartoonacy/qanda/q_smokey.htm)
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/5 "2004-08-10T23:52:58Z")
A quick search suggests that the strip was “Smokey Stover,” (1935-1973), by Bill Holman. Holman used to fill the strip with puns and nonsense catchphrases, including “foo,” 1506 nix-nix," and “Notary Sojac.” Holman basically just made these up, although he would sometimes give convoluted and often contradictory stories about their origin.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/6 "2004-08-10T23:55:10Z")
> [@Carcosa](#):
>
> [scroll down to second half of page](http://bobbuethe.tripod.com/cartoonacy/qanda/q_smokey.htm)
The variations reported on that page are interesting. The references in Mad I mentioned usually spelled it like the OP did–with a “Shmo **v**.”
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nov-shmov-kapop/259279/7 "2004-08-11T00:06:58Z")
I see that **Carcosa’s** link explains that my own misrecollection is a very common one - that was the sort of thing Smokey Stover was apt to include.