I've got the lurgy

Apologies for the lack of updates lately, but I’ve been feeling a little below par. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the word “lurgy”, I leave with you an extract from Wikipedia:

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 Gastroenteritis or the Common cold. Particularly violent strains are 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.

In the 1954 programme Lurgi Strikes Britain, the Goons 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. In the show, the symptoms of lurgi manifested as an uncontrollable urge to shout “EEEE-YACKABOO!!” without realising.

Well… they say you learn something new every day!   I’ll endeavour to do at least one update a day still, but they may be fewer than normal until I’m feeling better. Normal service will, I’m sure, resume shortly.