I must be a bit thick but can anyone tell me what dreaded lurgy means
lurgy: I must be a bit thick but can... - Lung Conditions C...
lurgy
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teaky-19
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A generic term for an non-specific illness but usually incorporates a chest infection for my husband. Maybe its a Yorkshire thing! TAD xx
Means you have plauge .. Approach with caution :))
in reply to
Oh that did make me laugh Daz 
My translation would be its a slang word for being crook (that last word is an NZ expression) Being crook in kiwiland means not feeling very well, or poorly, ill, sick or bug ridden 
In Germany you get sent to the krankenhaus if you are very poorly.... always liked that word
Krankenhaus means hospital but whatever country I'm living in I don't much like hospitals.
So keep away from the bugs and you may not get the dreaded lurgy and hopefully you will always stay out of the krankenhaus 
NZ and kiwiland = New Zealand
Lurgy a debilitating illness made up by the confidence trickster Hercules Gryptype Thynne and partner in crime Count Jim (springknees) Moriarty the cure to which was the playing of a musical instrument naturally supplied by the two con-men " Lurgy Strikes Britain" the Goon Show Series 5, Episode 7, Broadcast 9th November 1954
dreaded lurgy usually is slang for an infectious sickness, no one ever knows where they got it from
I learnt that one from my holidays as a child in England. I used to stay with my aunt in sussex and my cousins used to use that expression. M x
I always heard that in Scotland meaning keep away it's not goo infectious disease or the likes. But reading thro t he comments it seems to be fairly well across the UK.
Well whatever just remember if someone has it keep your distance....! X
Alternative forms
lurgey
lurgee
lurgi
Etymology
A nonce word popularized by Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes, scriptwriters for a 9 November 1954 programme of The Goon Show, "Lurgi Strikes Britain", in which 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. Folk etymologies for this word include:
that it is a corruption 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”).
Crikey, we are an erudite lot!
