What a great word to umbrella over many minor-ish complaints. Crook conjures up bent over or not going ahead in a straight line or something that’s broken.
Oddly, my iPhone WordBook doesn’t feature the “sick” or “ill” definition of the word, commonly used in Australia. But neither does it include that wonderfully descriptive word “lurgi”, which one of my wordmonger friends says came into language via the Goons. Seems reasonable.
Anyway, I’m digressing, possibly because of my weakened condition, that is, being crook.
I started developing the dreaded lurgi on Saturday night when we were out on the town. I couldn’t seem to get warm even when dancing to great Latin music. Very annoying.
Then I became rheumy over the next few days. The lurgi jumped into bed with me last night, enveloped me, completely stifling any nose breathing.
Everyone knows that yoga teachers don’t get sick and also that they wouldn’t think of using cold pills if they accidentally did.
Our little secret š
Note: the Iyengar “Path to Holistic Health” colds sequence does the trick to clear your head and sinuses.
5 Comments
tania Wilson
on August 13, 2010 at 11:44 am
Oh poor you, well nature has it’s way of caring for you because this would not have been nice to contend with on a long plane trip.
Neti? Feel better soon, lots of love and lemon drinks. My special remedy is 2 disprin, disolved with a whole lemon squeezed, a tsp or two of honey with boiling water to top up and stir. No whisky! Love Tania x
Ah, yes, what would I do without my friend Google, who says:
Lurgi
Several of the words and phrases invented for the Goon Show soon entered common usage, the most famous being the word lurgi. In the episode Lurgi Strikes Britain, Spike Milligan introduced the fictional malady of lurgi, (sometimes spelled lurgy) which has survived into modern usage to mean any miscellaneous or non-specific illness. Milligan was later to make up his own definition in Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan, where Jim Hawkins’ mother describes it as “like brown spots of shit on the liver”.
Oh poor you, well nature has it’s way of caring for you because this would not have been nice to contend with on a long plane trip.
Neti? Feel better soon, lots of love and lemon drinks. My special remedy is 2 disprin, disolved with a whole lemon squeezed, a tsp or two of honey with boiling water to top up and stir. No whisky! Love Tania x
Thanks for your solicitude, Tanya. I like the sound of your cold recipe. Why, pray, do you leave out the whiskey? XO
Ah, but is it a lurgy or a lurgi? The original version was with an ‘i’.
Ah, yes, what would I do without my friend Google, who says:
Lurgi
Several of the words and phrases invented for the Goon Show soon entered common usage, the most famous being the word lurgi. In the episode Lurgi Strikes Britain, Spike Milligan introduced the fictional malady of lurgi, (sometimes spelled lurgy) which has survived into modern usage to mean any miscellaneous or non-specific illness. Milligan was later to make up his own definition in Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan, where Jim Hawkins’ mother describes it as “like brown spots of shit on the liver”.
Ah, but is it a lurgy or a lurgi? The original version was with an āiā but the ‘y’ version is also around.