Ook Ook Slobber Drool
“Ook ook slobber drool” came into fannish use sometime around 1970, when Ed Buchman used it in APA-L, meaning, according to Elizabeth Fox, “my brain’s pleasure sensors have been diddled.”
Subsequently, it spread throughout apadom, often abbreviated merely as “ook ook” (or even just “ook”) or “slobber drool.” It was an apahack’s version of “LOL,” with an edge of derision.
Meanwhile, LASFS adopted the catchphrase as terms for its club auctions. Matthew B. Tepper recalled:
For many years, LASFS auctions (one of the ways we have raised money to buy our Clubhouses) would often get silly bids, too many to list here. Often, an auction item would be regarded by somebody in the room as being "putrid" (generally defined as silly and/or disturbing), and the natural response would be to squeal "ook ook!" Bruce Pelz, ever ready to raise money by whatever means necessary, declared that thenceforce a cry of "ook" would be regarded as a bid of 50¢, "slobber" 75¢, and "drool" $1.00. Thus the complete declaration of "ook ook slobber drool!" would be a bid of $2.75.
(I have seen the claim that it was Lee Gold who decided on the amount. This is quite possible.)
The main auctioneers in this post-Pelz era have largely suppressed the use of such silly bids, because they don't like them.
Buchman may have seen the phrase in the back panels of some comic book or other.
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