science

Schmilblick

Schmilblick is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Schmilblick rather than just read about it. In short: The Schmilblick is an imaginary object first described in a nonsense prose by the French humorist Pierre Dac during the 1950s. According to its creator, the Schmilblick can be used in almost any occasion, therefore being strictly indispensable.

Key takeaways

Schmilblick belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Schmilblick to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Schmilblick from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Schmilblick is an imaginary object first described in a nonsense prose by the French humorist Pierre Dac during the 1950s. According to its creator, the Schmilblick can be used in almost any occasion, therefore being strictly indispensable. Dac himself credits the fictional brothers Jules and Raphaël Fauderche with its invention ("Fauderche" means "Fake arse" in French). The Schmilblick resurfaced in 1969, in a TV show by Guy Lux and Jacques Antoine entitled Le Schmilblic (sometimes spelled Schmilblik or Schmilblick). The aim of the game was to guess the name of an object given some of its characteristics (color, shape, use and so on). This TV game actually re-uses an idea from an old radio show called Tirlipot created several years before. The word quickly became very popular in French language and was sometimes used as a placeholder name, particularly for a strange or unknown object similar to English words like "thingamajig" or "whatchamacallit". The words nowadays remains occasionally used to refer to some limited help provided by someone to solve a difficult problem. The actual idiom is faire avancer le schmilblick ("to make the schmilblick move/get ahead", literally) and was used a lot in the TV quiz show where it meant asking a pertinent question that might make it easier to guess the object. Coluche used this word in one of his sketches, a parody of Guy Lux's show.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Schmilblick

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Schmilblick claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Schmilblick before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Schmilblick ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Schmilblick

In research: Schmilblick appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Schmilblick in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Schmilblick is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fictional objects, French words and phrases, Vocabulary and usage stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Schmilblick outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Schmilblick in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Schmilblick means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Schmilblick out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Schmilblick in simple terms?

Why does Schmilblick matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Schmilblick?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Schmilblick.