Lurgy

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The lurgy (or lurgi) is Commonwealth English slang for an unspecified contagious disease, generally one considered inconvenient and non-fatal with obvious symptoms, such as influenza or the common cold. It is also often referred to as "The Dreaded Lurgy". Phrases like "I've got the lurgy" are commonly heard when somebody is explaining why they cannot attend a social occasion, come to work, etc.

There is some suggestion that it is a corruption of the word "allergy", or possibly based on the Northern English dialectic phrase "fever-lurgy" meaning lazy or idle, but its likely origin can be found in the 1950's BBC radio programme, The Goon Show. If so, since Spike Milligan, the Goon Show's main writer, fought in World War II, it is likely to be based on the name of the German metals and chemicals company now called Lurgi AG.

In a 1954 programme of The Goon Show, "Lurgi Strikes Britain", 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. It eventually becomes apparent that the disease is merely a convoluted ruse perpetrated by the arch-criminals Count Moriarty and Hercules Grytpype-Thynne in order to sell large numbers of brass band instruments, the playing of which is claimed to be the only cure. In the show, the symptoms of lurgi manifested as an uncontrollable urge to shout "EEEE-YACKABOO!" without realising. It was implied that the disease was fatal; Moriarty claims that the British Isles could be wiped out in as little as six weeks.

Alternative spellings include 'lergy', 'lurgie', and 'lergies'.

In the context of playground games, lurgy is often used as a phantom contagion or unclean quality, in a manner similar to the North American concept of cooties. For example, "You can't play with us, you've got the lurgy!" could be used when excluding another child from a group.