Surely not new this month, but it got to me (via Victor Steinbok) this month: shmeat ‘animal protein produced in vitro’, in particular in protein sheets in a lab. Sheet + meat.
There’s a Shmeat website, with this information:
In the quest to create meat without actually harming animals, scientists (who fondly refer to themselves as “tissue engineers”) are diligently working so that one day in the not so distance future, you can have a serving of shmeat on your dinner plate.
Shmeat (also known as cultured meat, hydroponic meat, test-tube meat, vat-grown meat, victimless meat and [in] vitro meat [and lab meat]) is the nickname given to lab created meat grown from a cell culture of animal tissue. The process is pretty straight forward and the process is similar to how scientists already grow patches of human skin.
Cells are harvested from a live animal, such as a chicken, pig or cow. The cells are then placed in a special solution of nutrients which mimics the qualities of blood. This nutrient solution will help the cells to multiply where they can then be secured to a spongy sheet which has been soaked with nutrient solution. The sheet is then stretched to increase cell size and protein content. It’s from the combination of this “sheet meat” that shmeat derives its name.
/ʃm/ is not an auspicious word onset: think s(c)hmuck and s(c)hmo, and other Yiddish-derived words that are derogatory or comic, plus German names in Schm-, like Schmidt. More important, it suggests the second element of dismissive Shm- Reduplication (here): “Table, shmable, just give me a place to work”; “Linguist, shminguist, what does he know about earning money?”
Or, in this case: “Meat, shmeat, who cares as long as it’s animal protein?” The problem is the dismissive, even derogatory, component of shm-, something no marketer would want to hook into.
Reactions to the stuff itself — which is unlikely to appear on the market anytime soon, and might well be expensive then — are mixed. For many people, there’s a strong ick factor (having to do with the “unnatural” and “engineered” character of shmeat), but it’s heralded by some, for instance the PETA people, who value it as an alternative to slaughtering animals.
However the economic, ethical, sociocultural, and commercial aspects of the matter shake out, I’d recommend an alternative to shmeat (with dismissive shm- and potentially suggestive meat combined) as the name. (Of course, sometimes advertising triumphs over naming. But it’s a trudge uphill.)
September 16, 2011 at 10:14 am |
On Google+, Victor Steinbok and I started a discussion about whether shmeat is kosher. Victor’s latest:
September 16, 2011 at 4:36 pm |
And John Lawler in response:
September 18, 2011 at 2:03 pm |
And then Victor:
September 18, 2011 at 2:05 pm |
And then John:
November 16, 2011 at 6:00 pm |
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