I have the lurgi. Better Half has the lurgi. Grover is recovering from the lurgi.
Lurgi, the lurgi or the dreaded lurgi (also sometimes spelt lurgy) rhymes with Fergie and is a lovely informal BrE word with comedic (and possibly dialectal) origins that can now refer to an annoying (but not serious) illness that hangs around and makes one feel miserable. World Wide Words does a lovely job of recounting its history. Wiktionary has more on its meanings. In addition to meaning, 'flu-like symptoms' it has a playground use that is somewhat equivalent to AmE cooties, which you can learn more about here or in the following video:
But that's all from me now, 'cause I've got the lurgi.
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Finally, something better to call it than "The Crud!"
Wow, I [AmE in UK] would never have spelled it with an "i". Definitely "lurgy".
Thanks for the history links, and for confirming its equivalence with cooties. Hope you feel better soon!
Actually, I'd have spelt it lurgae myself. I had it last week...
Goobah. (US)
Is there any etymological link between "lurgy" (presumably in a non-rhotic dialect) and "loogie"?
That video is PRICELESS! Love it.
And nothing beats the sound of the word "lurgy" intoned in a posh Brit accent. It sounds simply dire.
@Doug: no. As far as I know 'loogie' is AmE-only.
And no one has wished you (and yours) a quick recovery yet? Then let me be the first!
-h
Ever since I first heard of American cooties I've often wondered if they were related to Indonesian kutu (lice). Though by what route I have no idea.
Hope your lurgy doesn't last too long.
To be fair, Anon/h, String did wish me well! But thank you for all well-wishes. Grover and BH are doing better--I'm between naps.
@RMWG: well caught! See Online Etymological Dictionary. Note that it originally came to English on the British side, but it's predominantly an American word now. I have also heard it used to mean 'lice' in the US.
Oh, and I should've mentioned the American game Cootie, which demonstrates the entomological/etymological link. Apparently a similar game was marketed in the UK as "Beetle".
Yes, get well soon.
Linguistically, lurgy seems to be being taken over by the even more dreaded 'man flu' (and its female equivalent, bird flu), which is of course a complication of skiveritis.
I trust you have equipped yourself with an E flat trombone, as per Grytpype's instructions.
So sorry to hear that you're Proper Poorly, to use a very BrE expression - hope you feel better soon.
I would always spell it "lurgy", if not "lergy". I do think it is a mispronunciation of "allergy"; I know Wiktionary says not, but I don't think it quite realises the tradition of deliberate mispronunciation for comic effect that exists in BrE.
I thought cooties were specifically headlice? Here, they don't have a nickname - I don't think "lurgy" would be used for that, although I don't have a child of playground age so I don't know for sure.
@townmouse: I thought "man flu" meant a slight cold that any self-respecting male would insist was flu and refuse to take any form of cold relief "because I need to know how ill I feel"... as opposed to "real" flu that knocks you out for a fortnight and if you're an OAP/Senior Citizen (BrE/AmE) you get vaccinated against. "Lurgy" can be a tummy-upset, too, I think as well as a cold or similar virus.... at least, it can in my book!
Get well soon!
(I'm back to lurking now.)
I thought cooties were nits (BrE) - headlice.
The unpopular child in the playground had germs.
@Mrs Redboots/Sarah: the 'lice' meaning of 'cooties' is long separated from the playground use--at least on the playgrounds I frequented. On the playground 'cooties' is usually 'boy germs' or 'girl germs' (depending on which sex you are--i.e. a girl can get cooties/boy germs from touching a boy), but can also be just general 'untouchableness'. For instance, I remember a certain girl in my class who was never quite as well-scrubbed as the rest of us, and she would often be said to have/give cooties.
The terms 'nit' and 'head lice' are common to both dialects, as far as I know. Nits are the eggs, rather than the insects.
Went to the doctor--who says I have sinusitis, rather than lurgi. The treatment seems to be the same.
Ah, but you see, sinusitis is a lurgy! At least, that's how I would use the word - "I have some kind of lurgy; the doctor says it's sinusitis!"
Either way, hope you feel better soon!
I thought my mother had made that up! She will be pleased to be vindicated. She also says "stotious" (pronounced stowshus) which I'm sure is a made up word. I think it means very drunk.
No no, up here in Glasgow stotious is a common word, one of the many meaning "drunk" in local dialect.
Video is hilarious! I don't specifically remember lurgy having that opposite-sex-avoidance meaning when I was at school, I think if we used it at all it was more like the "untouchable" meaning you mentioned. The "circle circle dot dot" rhyme rings a bell but I can't remember how the rest of it went for us...
stocious is the usual spelling of stotious. It's mainly Irish. It's in the OED.
I grew up calling this dire illness "the dreaded mahocous". That's what my dad called it.
Mahocus, rather. Google tells me I'm not the only one, either. Sounds like something from Dr. Seuss.
"Cooties" video is an absolute riot. A wonderful parody of the STD ads.I didn't know a vaccine was available.
My mom called it "purple diabungus" - a cold. No idea where she got this.
I thought that cooties was wiped-out in the 1970s when the CDC started requiring Cooties Shots to be administered in schools.
Has it made a resurgence?
I am from Glasgow and had never heard of (the)lurgy until I moved to Oxford. I think it is a regional term.
Anyone else agree?
I'm from suffolk, and i usually term it as the lurg, without the y or i. 'Oh no, you've got the lurg!'
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