The Smurfs are a comic and television franchise centered on a group of small blue fictional creatures. First introduced as a series of comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo (Pierre Culliford) in 1958. The original term and the accompanying language came during a meal Peyo was having with his colleague and friend Franquin. Having momentarily forgotten the word “salt”, Peyo asked him (in French) to pass the schtroumpf. Franquin jokingly replied: “Here’s the Schtroumpf — when you are done schtroumpfing, schtroumpf it back” and the two spent the rest of that weekend speaking in “schtroumpf language”. The Smurfs are tiny, blue creatures who live in mushroom houses in a village hidden in the forest. Smurfs are blue and only three-apples tall. A characteristic of the Smurf language is the frequent use of the word “smurf” and its derivatives in a variety of meanings. The Smurfs replace enough nouns and verbs in everyday speech with “smurf” as to make their conversations barely understandable: “We’re going smurfing on the River Smurf today.” When used as a verb, the word “Smurf” typically means “to make,” “to be,” or “to do.” Smurfs fans in 11 cities around the world are on June 25, set a new Guinness World Record. The final total of participants attempt at the record for most people dressed as smurfs within 24 hours (multiple venues) was an incredible 4891! The previous record had been 2,510 people dressed as Smurfs.
