lurgy

English

Alternative forms

• lurgey
• lurgee
• lurgi
• lurghi (original spelling but now rare)

Etymology

A nonce word popularized by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes, scriptwriters for a 9 November 1954 programme of The Goon Show, "Lurgi Strikes Britain", in which Ned Seagoon must deal with a national outbreak of a highly dangerous, highly infectious and — as it turns out — highly fictitious disease known as the Dreaded Lurgi. Folk etymologies for this word include:

• a corruption and contraction of the allergy. This is not supported by the use of the hard 'g' in lurgi (rhyming with Fergie), as allergy has a softer 'g' sound similar to a hard 'j'.
• based on the Northern English dialectic phrase fever-lurgy (“lazy or idle”).
• based on a gaelic term indicating a negative change in life. For example, "Lhergy" (Manx Gaelic spelling used) is a hill-farm in Gaelic, and the associated anglo-manx proverb "Goin' down the Lhergy" means "Going downhill in life". Milligan was of Irish extraction, so may have encountered a similar proverb.^{reference needed}

Noun

lurgy (plural lurgies)

1. (UK, slang) A fictitious, highly infectious disease; often used in the phrase "the dreaded lurgi", sometimes as a reference to flu-like symptoms

Synonyms

• cooties (US) (Only in the playground sense.)

Usage notes

• Phrases like "I've got the lurgi" are commonly heard when somebody is explaining why they cannot attend a social occasion, come to work, etc.
• The term is also used in the context of playground games. For example, "You can't play with us, you've got the lurgi!" could be used when excluding another child from a group.