Lurgi

Hello, folks, it's word origin time (he says, putting on his best Neddy Seagoon voice and fat suit). Lurgi. A fairly commonly used word these days, meant to denote an unspecific ailment or illness or maybe a general feeling of malaise. But where oh where did it come from? Well, there is, naturally, some debate as to the specific etymology of the word but the signs point to it mainly being popularised by Mr Spike Milligna, the well-known typing error, in his 1954 episode of The Goon Show entitled Lurgi Strikes Britain. Spike claimed that he saw it on a construction site and fell in love with the word and there is indeed a German company called Lurgi which would seem to lend some weight to his claim.

All of which is to say that I've got a bit of a sniffle so can't be bothered to do a proper blog and stuff. Instead, here's Lurgi Strikes Britain. Enjoy.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4