The Whangdoodle is a fanciful or humorous being whose undefined appearance and essence is left to individual imagination. Other connotations may include an object of humor, something noisy but of no consequence and insignificant.

19th-century usage

It appeared in 1858 as a title for and text within a parody sermon "Where the lion roareth and the wang-doodle mourneth," published in Samuel Putnam Avery's The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime. Possibly due to its resemblance to or formation from existing words whang and doodle, it soon became common to spell it as whangdoodle. The term appeared derisively in 1859 correspondence published in The Cincinnati Lancet & Observer. Mark Twain used it disparagingly in a letter in 1862. By 1877 it had been included in a dictionary.

20th-century usage

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica listed this definition in the Poker article: Whangdoodle: Compulsory round of jack-pots, usually agreed upon to follow a very large hand.

20th-century literature

In children's literature by British authors Roald Dahl and Julie Andrews, a whangdoodle is portrayed as dismayed and discontent, or a creature of sorrow.

Roald Dahl books

One of the main characters is warned by his mother against a forest where Whangdoodles and other monsters live (though the only monster he does meet there is the Gruncher). One of the firemen in New York City refers to the centipede as a Whangdoodle. Willy Wonka mentions that he saved the Oompa Loompas from being preyed upon by Whangdoodles and various other monsters. Whangdoodles are described as particularly "terrible" and "wicked". One of the ingredients for Wonka-Vite is "the hide (and the seek) of a spotted Whangdoodle".

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

A different Whangdoodle is described in the children's novel The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by singer and actress Dame Julie Andrews (under her married name of Julie Edwards): an intelligent, ungulate-like character capable of changing color to suit its emotions or blend into its surroundings, from whose hind legs grow a new and different set of bedroom slippers each year. It is introduced to the protagonists Ben, Tom, and Lindy, and thus to the reader, by the geneticist 'Professor Savant', a scholar of the Whangdoodle and its secret domain. Attempting to visit both, the scientist and children are opposed by the antagonist 'Prock' (the Whangdoodle's second-in-command), until his resources are exhausted by their tenacity. With Prock persuaded to grant their passage, the children discover that the Whangdoodle is oppressed by want of a mate, and convince Savant to create the latter. With this done, the two Whangdoodles are to be wedded at a great celebration, and the children return to their home.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

Some versions of the song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" include a mention of a Whangdoodle singing in the titular hobo's paradise. This is the case in the version written down and arranged by Charles and Ruth Seeger. This version is used in the Frederic Rzewski composition for violin, piano, and percussion, titled "Whangdoodles".