Lurgy

Pronunciation

UK enPR: lÃ»(r)Ê¹gÄ“, IPA: /ËˆlÉœË(É¹)gi/
US enPR: lÃ»rÊ¹ge, IPA: /ËˆlÉgi/

Alternative forms

Origin

A nonce word popularized by Spike Milligan and , scriptwriters for a 9 November 1954 programme of , "", in which must deal with a national outbreak of a highly dangerous, highly infectious and â€” as it turns out â€” highly fictitious disease known as the Dreaded Lurgi.

Folk etymology for this word include:

that it is a corruption (linguistics) 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'.
that it is based on the Northern English dialectic phrase fever-lurgy ("lazy or idle").

Full definition of lurgy

Noun

lurgy

(plural lurgies)

(British, 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.