Talk:Lurgy

VFD debate
For a June 2005 VFD debate on this article see Votes for deletion/Lurgy

Spelling of Lurg*
The proper spelling is lurgi. The name is from a 1954 Goon Show titled "Lurgi Strikes Britain". See the script.

I have made a note in the article to reflect the correct spelling, but retained the -y ending in the main body of the text as this has become a more popular and widespread spelling of the word--Crais459 08:37, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

Origin of Lurgy/i
The Goons did not invent the term 'lurgy', they merely popularised it. Lurgy was already a common term in the South Downs region (where Spike Milligan lived) for many years before the term was ever used on the radio. I would strongly suggest allowing the article to be modified to reflect this in some way.

As a keen amateur etymologist, I have done some extensive research into the origins of the word and can find no reference to it being used in the South Downs before the 1950s - the closest I have found is in turn-of-the-century Northern England where Fever-Lurgan or Fever-Lurgy meant "the disease of idleness". It is possible that Eric Sykes/Spike Milligan based it on this. The OED states the Goon Show as being the origin of the word in its present form, but if you are able to evidence a South Downs origin, please feel free to edit the article to reflect this --Crais459 08:37, 28 October 2005 (UTC)


 * I've downgraded the 'Fever-lurgy' suggestion, and suggest that it be removed as Original Research unless there is some hard evidence for it.88.97.15.184 (talk) 15:45, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Origins of "lurgy"
In an interview, Spike Milligan said he saw the word on a London construction site and fell in love with it. The company is German but operates internationally, or at least they did 25 years ago when they designed a high intensity rock grinding machine for the South African Chamber of Mines. It never worked.

It is possible that Lurgy derives from Allergy, as word play involving deliberate mispronunciation is not unknown in the UK. Harry. 20:47, 12 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I've also downgraded this, and would suggest removing it unless there's some hard evidence.88.97.15.184 (talk) 15:46, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Expand, merge or redirect
This page is a dictionary definition (something which Wikipedia is not). It explains the meaning, etymology and usage examples of a slang word. I can't find any encyclopedic content on this page. Nothing here rises past what I would expect to read in a truly great unabridged dictionary. The definitions and usage discussions belong over in Wiktionary where folks with the right skills, interests and lexical tools can more easily sort out the meanings and origins.

Options to fix the page here include:
 * 1) Expand the page with encyclopedic content - that is, content that goes well beyond the merely lexical.
 * 2) Redirect the page to a more general page on the appropriate sub-genre of slang.
 * 3) Replace the current contents with a soft-redirect to Wiktionary (usually done using the wi template).

Pending a better answer, I'm implementing option 3 for now. Rossami (talk) 20:45, 29 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Redirected to the relevant section of The Goon Show.-- Jeffro 77 (talk) 23:56, 13 January 2009 (UTC)