"Allamagoosa" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by English author

Eric Frank Russell Eric Frank Russell (January 6, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. Much of his work was first published in the United States, in John W. Campbell's '' Astounding Science ...

, originally published in the May 1955 issue of

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

and collected in '' The Hugo Winners'' (1962), ''The Best Of Eric Frank Russell'' (1978), and ''Major Ingredients: The Selected Short Stories of Eric Frank Russell'' (2000).

Plot summary

While preparing for an inspection, the crew of the starship ''Bustler'' reread their

manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...

and discover that they are supposed to have something called an "offog"; however, nobody knows what that is. They devise a plan to pass the inspection anyway: going on the assumption that nobody else would know what it is either, they simply manufacture a small box with

blinkenlights Blinkenlights is a neologism for Blinkenlights#Actual blinkenlights, diagnostic lights usually on the front panels on old mainframe computers, minicomputers, many early microcomputers, and modern network hardware. It has been seen as a ske ...

and feed the commanding officer some

technobabble Technobabble (a portmanteau of ''technology'' and ''babble''), also called technospeak, is a type of nonsense that consists of buzzwords, esoteric language, or technical jargon. It is common in science fiction. See also * Academese * Bullshit ...

about what the device does. The plan seems to work, and the ship passes the inspection. The ship is soon ordered back to Earth for overhaul; the crew, fearing that their deception will soon be uncovered, try to get rid of the "offog" and message headquarters that it "came apart under gravitational stress". Two days later, the entire fleet is ordered to be grounded, and the crew realizes that "offog" was a

typo A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling mistake) made in the typing of printed (or electronic) material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typography). ...

of "off.dog", short for "official dog", and the headquarters are now grounding the fleet to conduct an investigation about how an animal could come apart under gravitational stress.

Reception

"Allamagoosa" won the 1955

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

John Joseph Adams John Joseph Adams (born 1976) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor, critic, and publisher. Career Editor Adams worked as Assistant Editor at ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' from May 2001 to December 2009. In January 20 ...

has called it "uproariously funny".Locus Listens to Audio: Reviews by John Joseph Adams
at

Locus Online ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields ...

; published July 23, 2004; retrieved September 7, 2017

James Nicoll James Davis Nicoll (born March 18, 1961) is a Canadian freelance game and speculative fiction reviewer, former security guard and role-playing game store owner, and also works as a first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club. As a Usene ...

has commented that it is "apparently based on an

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

".One of the gentler voices of the Golden Age: ''The Best of Eric Frank Russell'' — Eric Frank Russell
reviewed by

, at James Nicoll Reviews; published November 9, 2014; retrieved September 7, 2017 In fact, it is essentially a science-fictional retelling of a traditional tall story called "The Shovewood".

References

External links

*
''Allamagoosa'' at webarchive of scifi.com
{{Hugo Award Best Short Story 1955–1960 1955 short stories Science fiction short stories Science fiction comedy Hugo Award for Best Short Story winning works Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact