The graph tends to show shifting, rounded curves that resemble the lumpy, bubble-shaped shmoo character in the Li'l Abner comic strip series. The term is also a verb: "to shmoo" is to run the test.

It was said that the plot takes the name from Shmoo, a fictional species created by ALCapp in the cartoon Li'l Abner. This cartoon came into the picture as it has a blob-like structure, which was very ...