Those meddling kids!

November 13, 2007 1:07 PM

Mefi better journalists than Plum Sykes.

Intrepid original-question-asker flying saucer and askme-answerer veronica sawyer get to the bottom of the origins of the mysterious word "harrogatha."

posted by brain cloud to MetaFilter-Related at 1:07 PM (29 comments total)

Mefi Anyone better journalists than Plum Sykes.

fixed &c.
posted by dersins at 1:27 PM on November 13, 2007

Woo! New word!
posted by klangklangston at 1:34 PM on November 13, 2007

Neither the first nor last time MeFi has done this. We are no replacement for GOOD professional journalism, but a very important supplement to the much more common BAD professional journalism.
posted by wendell at 1:44 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

That thread embiggened my spirits.
posted by ALongDecember at 1:51 PM on November 13, 2007

Now all we've got to do is get a hold of Paul Rutherford and see what he remembers about the word. Did he just come up with it? What was his motivation, etc.
posted by delmoi at 1:53 PM on November 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd be interested to know how many Mefi-person-hours were spent on this and if that work rate on research could sustain an actual writing career ;-)
posted by i_cola at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2007

Yay! Thanks for the follow up. I had been meaning to check that thread again.
posted by vytae at 2:40 PM on November 13, 2007

I have enough personal experience with this that looking over the original thread didn't surprise me at ALL.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 2:43 PM on November 13, 2007

But can we write a better Bergdorf Blondes?

I kinda liked that book...
posted by Metroid Baby at 2:46 PM on November 13, 2007

If I could get paid to research random shit like this all day long, I would be happy as a dog with two dicks.
posted by veronica sawyer at 2:53 PM on November 13, 2007 [6 favorites]

Some writers are good... and some writers need insane amounts of editing.

I'd say some of the most famous writers out there, especially in the chick lit genre, contribute as much to the end-product as Britney Spears contributes in "songwriting credits".

But I like being employed and I'm going to shut up now.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 3:01 PM on November 13, 2007

BERG DURF BLONDES READER
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:09 PM on November 13, 2007

Wow. Remind me to hire all of you when I need someone tracked down and/or whacked.
posted by Pastabagel at 4:56 PM on November 13, 2007

Already planning the list of places that I will be referring to as harrogatha as soon as possible.
posted by theredpen at 6:58 PM on November 13, 2007

veronica sawyer: If I could get paid to research random shit like this all day long, I would be happy as a dog with two dicks.

Who wants to get a collection going so we can pay veronica sawyer to research just how happy a dog with two dicks is?
posted by Kattullus at 7:17 PM on November 13, 2007

Isn't anyone going to track down the Frankie Goes To Hollywood dude and really get to the bottom of this?
posted by Reggie Digest at 7:31 PM on November 13, 2007

Thanks for posting this.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:30 PM on November 13, 2007

ohmygod my comment in this thread reads completely differently from how I intended it

excuse me while I go self-immolate with burning shame
posted by Kattullus at 8:35 PM on November 13, 2007

Now all we've got to do is get a hold of Paul Rutherford and see what he remembers about the word. Did he just come up with it? What was his motivation, etc.

nothing-to-do-with-anything derailfilter: When I was a tender 14, I bussed my butt down to Olsson's in Georgetown, still wearing my fugly catholic school uniform, to buy a copy of Welcome to the Pleasuredome and get it signed by the band, who were in attendance for that purpose. I waited forever on line. Finally I got up to the table where they were autographing records. I handed my copy over. One guy signed it, then another. Then Mark O'Toole, the bassist, scribbled on my record cover and burped loudly in my face. Paul Rutherford laughed.

That is my story about FGTH.

- fin -
posted by brain cloud at 9:08 PM on November 13, 2007

Thank you for posting the follow-up! Mystery solved. Curiosity sated.

And I've always thought that a grown woman who calls herself "Plum" can't be the brightest bulb in the chandelier anyway. /snark
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:19 PM on November 13, 2007

I think Mefi may have just found it's biggest and most profitable business spin-off.

All Matt needs to do is leverage the combined brain and investigatory power of mefites, globally dispersed and expert in a variety of fields, and pitch it to magazines and newspapers.

Mefi could become the first outsourced fact-checking company.
posted by generichuman at 1:38 AM on November 14, 2007

ITS! Bugger.
posted by generichuman at 1:38 AM on November 14, 2007

"And I've always thought that a grown woman who calls herself "Plum" can't be the brightest bulb in the chandelier anyway."
Especially since when she gets all wrinkly we'll have to call her "Prune."
posted by Floydd at 7:29 AM on November 14, 2007

"And I've always thought that a grown woman who calls herself "Plum" can't be the brightest bulb in the chandelier anyway. /snark
posted by Rosie M. Banks

But "Rosie" is an apple-cheeked poppet in a storybook! (Or - I have to say - the name of my parents' donkey - now deceased!).
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:51 AM on November 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Who wants to get a collection going so we can pay veronica sawyer to research just how happy a dog with two dicks is?

I've actually been conducting research on this very topic. Here are the results.

God bless the MacArthur Fellowship.
posted by veronica sawyer at 8:33 AM on November 14, 2007 [5 favorites]

It's probably a super secret ski lodge in Arizona anyway.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:59 AM on November 14, 2007 [2 favorites]

Now I must figure out how to constantly work "Harrogatha" into everyday conversation.
posted by Justinian at 12:54 PM on November 14, 2007

Very impressive work! What fun.
posted by rainbaby at 1:05 PM on November 14, 2007

I have to say, I prefer my own mispronunciation, which I've unknowingly used for the last few months.

"Harro-GATH-a" combines "harrowing" with a gasping, choking sound. It conveys that you can't wait to get away from something, as if you're waving smoke from your face as you dash off.

HurRAH-guth-ah just sound like a boarding school.

I intend to occasionally Google "harrogatha" to see if people start using it. Might be fun to track a new word.
posted by Flying Saucer at 5:33 PM on November 14, 2007