tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post5880009419507711868..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: the dreaded lurgilynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-45269638879687842792020-08-09T13:03:51.458+01:002020-08-09T13:03:51.458+01:00BrE (Scot, 60+) I like and use the term, and enjoy...BrE (Scot, 60+) I like and use the term, and enjoy the humour, although I had never heard it in my native Scotland. It’s another one of these words that really illustrates different regional vowel sounds. To me, lurgy doesn’t rhyme with Fergie any more than bug rhymes with beg, or bud with bed.Shy-replyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01891566073375322808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-66175851546728262742020-03-18T03:02:20.701+00:002020-03-18T03:02:20.701+00:00In school playgrounds in the 1960's you would ...In school playgrounds in the 1960's you would say: "don't go near him - he's got the lurgi" (pron. lergee, rhymes with fergy)Brian de Wolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12846826639370379631noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-24353032786836751882019-12-23T04:51:05.511+00:002019-12-23T04:51:05.511+00:00Lurgy, deffoLurgy, deffoBrianWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05870226652337485460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-6321963874720130712015-11-23T16:45:02.446+00:002015-11-23T16:45:02.446+00:00"The dreaded Lurgi" coined by Spike Mil..."The dreaded Lurgi" coined by Spike Milligan in the Brit radio series The GoonShow from the 50s/60s... has become common usage in UK to mean a cold, feeling rough in fact anything that makes you feel unwell... prob common in Australia too..<br />Google GOON SHOW...Don't say you weren't warned!!!!! <br /><br /> John. NW EnglandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3762648893986485272014-11-08T22:56:56.261+00:002014-11-08T22:56:56.261+00:00My understanding is that the Lurgi was popularised...My understanding is that the Lurgi was popularised by the Goon Show, but that it had been British army slang during the second world war (all the Goons and their writers had served). Its use is consciously humourous.John in Leedsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-59232336561036135272012-11-03T02:50:02.026+00:002012-11-03T02:50:02.026+00:00Lynne, It is kind of hard to get the humor when yo...Lynne, It is kind of hard to get the humor when you have no clue what it is :) but I think I am kind of getting it now.Mindo14https://www.blogger.com/profile/11511666650523998608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-32696727766679408162012-10-25T17:01:00.968+01:002012-10-25T17:01:00.968+01:00Mindy, I don't think you're appreciating t...Mindy, I don't think you're appreciating the humo(u)r of the term. There is no translation. lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-7955394724986129572012-10-25T15:16:22.857+01:002012-10-25T15:16:22.857+01:00or we would say a stomach bug, or some kind of bug...or we would say a stomach bug, or some kind of bug is going around.Mindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-28435504153400691692012-10-25T15:14:58.171+01:002012-10-25T15:14:58.171+01:00Thank you.
We would say there's something go...Thank you. <br /><br />We would say there's something going around, or there's a virus going around. Mindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-63764219278256568792012-10-24T19:36:12.523+01:002012-10-24T19:36:12.523+01:00I wouldn't say it's a hypocritical thing (...I wouldn't say it's a hypocritical thing (that's man-flu!), more just a minor virus one either doesn't wish to go into detail about, or doesn't know: "X won't be at work today, she has some kind of lurgy". <br /><br />Or, possibly, "There's some kind of lurgy going round at school; several people in X's class are off with it."Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-59767171439128760292012-10-24T01:39:30.126+01:002012-10-24T01:39:30.126+01:00Mindy
Ok, so what is Lurgi? I do not see a defini...Mindy<br /><br /><i>Ok, so what is Lurgi? I do not see a definitive answer to what this is?</i><br /><br />That's the point. It's <i>thingummy</i>, it's <i>How's your father/</i>, it's <i>oojamiflip</i> it's <i>There's a lot of it about</i>.<br /><br />As Lyn explained, it started as a comic creation <i>the dreaded lurgi</i>. Since the Goon Show days, it seems to have shifted from an hysterical term for something dreadful but unreal, to a low-key term for something nebulous but sort-of real.<br /><br />A rough paraphrase is <i>It's probably nothing but I'm being hypochondriac about it. Ha ha! Aren't I funny.</i>David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-54023724112892700502012-10-23T17:21:58.358+01:002012-10-23T17:21:58.358+01:00Ok, so what is Lurgi? I do not see a definitive an...Ok, so what is Lurgi? I do not see a definitive answer to what this is?<br /><br />Allergies, cold, flu? <br /><br />just an over all feel sick, but no clue to what it is?<br /><br />unidentified virus?<br /><br />Help a sister out :)Mindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-43134005372904858482011-12-07T21:03:56.345+00:002011-12-07T21:03:56.345+00:00I am currently sick with the dreaded lurgi but it ...I am currently sick with the dreaded lurgi but it could be worse I could be 'bad in bed under the doctor' as some of my welsh friends would say.Frankiemousesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-63268678745642224232011-10-28T08:23:07.371+01:002011-10-28T08:23:07.371+01:00I'm pretty sure that by the age of ten I knew ...I'm pretty sure that by the age of ten I knew that cooties were "really" head lice...but that didn't mean I could get by without a cootie vaccination. In my school you had to have the letters CV on your hand or arm in ball-point pen. Those social cooties were even more important than the six-legged ones.Juliehttp://www.julieannmaahs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-38678950236947718552011-10-28T02:27:43.863+01:002011-10-28T02:27:43.863+01:00appropriate that you linked to this today, as I ha...appropriate that you linked to this today, as I have been in the grip of the lurgy for over 2 weeks now. Ugh. Koff. *Wooze* Where's my E-flat trombone when I need it?ellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13036209994244477176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73623948588165289742011-10-14T11:22:12.527+01:002011-10-14T11:22:12.527+01:00At school it was always plural as in "ugh, sh...At school it was always plural as in "ugh, she's got lurgies!" . Singular when used by my parents though. It took me ages to get past the playground sense and use the word myself!Rachel Wardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06218353720195613236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-55390309918135363672011-04-13T17:53:57.591+01:002011-04-13T17:53:57.591+01:00My mother called it "the epizootic." Onl...My mother called it "the epizootic." Only many years later did I learn this was a real word, apparently referring to a cattle disease, epizootic aphthosa. Rodger CAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-54232987095064619102011-04-03T00:44:53.553+01:002011-04-03T00:44:53.553+01:00Indeed, though I've also seen it spelled "...Indeed, though I've also seen it spelled "Lurghi", pronounced "Lur-ghee" (That's "Lur" as in Lurk, with a glottal gh, as in Ghastly, not a hard G as in Generator), as opposed to "Lur-ghai" or "Lur-G".Robert "Anaerin" Johnstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09674103705276839841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-78578880321891816132010-02-21T09:27:09.625+00:002010-02-21T09:27:09.625+00:00Click on the World Wide Words link provided, and y...Click on the World Wide Words link provided, and you'll see it mentioned!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-57417098185006271382010-02-20T22:35:02.066+00:002010-02-20T22:35:02.066+00:00The Macquarie Dictionary (Australia, where the wor...The Macquarie Dictionary (Australia, where the word is well-known by people of a certain age):<br /><br />lurgy (say 'lergee)<br />noun Colloquial 1. a fictitious, very infectious disease.<br />2. Also, the dreaded lurgy. any illness. Also, lurgi. [coined by British comedian Spike Milligan, 1919–2002]Lyn Nuttallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02787764444828858061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-21866207740180865172010-02-20T22:32:24.567+00:002010-02-20T22:32:24.567+00:00Can't believe no-one's mentioned the Goon ...Can't believe no-one's mentioned the Goon Show, the British radio show where I believe "lurgi" was invented, probably by Spike Milligan. <a rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goon_Show#The_dreaded_lurgi</a>Lyn Nuttallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02787764444828858061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-15175388453983892032009-06-11T19:39:30.105+01:002009-06-11T19:39:30.105+01:00I'm from suffolk, and i usually term it as the...I'm from suffolk, and i usually term it as the lurg, without the y or i. 'Oh no, you've got the lurg!'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-48360093743549081172009-03-10T17:48:00.000+00:002009-03-10T17:48:00.000+00:00I am from Glasgow and had never heard of (the)lurg...I am from Glasgow and had never heard of (the)lurgy until I moved to Oxford. I think it is a regional term.<BR/><BR/>Anyone else agree?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-62293614960115762522009-01-19T17:28:00.000+00:002009-01-19T17:28:00.000+00:00I thought that cooties was wiped-out in the 1970s ...I thought that cooties was wiped-out in the 1970s when the CDC started requiring Cooties Shots to be administered in schools.<BR/>Has it made a resurgence?badVladhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18023478742340284002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-52240595993548183062008-12-28T15:32:00.000+00:002008-12-28T15:32:00.000+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.jhmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15024302748759726815noreply@blogger.com