i have this econonmics teacher and he always says "Heavens to Murgatroy"! and i have no idea whut that is.
2007-06-17 12:46:17 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Meaning
An exclamation of surprise.
Origin
'Heavens to Murgatroyd' is American in origin and dates from the mid 20th century. The expression was popularized by the cartoon character Snagglepuss - a regular on the Yogi Bear Show in the 1960s, and is a variant of the earlier 'heavens to Betsy'.
The first use of the phrase wasn't by Snagglepuss but comes from the 1944 film Meet the People. It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss's voice was patterned on Lahr's, along with the 'heavens to Murgatroyd' line. Daws Butler's vocal portrayal of the character was so accurate that when the cartoon was used to promote Kellogg Cereals, Lahr sued and made the company distance him from the campaign by giving a prominent credit to Butler.
As with Betsy, we have no idea who Murgatroyd was. The various spellings of the name - as Murgatroid, Mergatroyd or Mergatroid tend to suggest that it wasn't an actual surname. While it is doubtful that the writers of Meet The People (Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy) were referring to an actual person, they must have got the name from somewhere.
No less than ten of the characters in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Ruddigore (1887) are baronets surnamed "Murgatroyd", eight of whom (or is that which?) are ghosts. Herzig and Saidy were well versed in the works of the musical theatre and that plethora of Murgatroyds would have been known to them.
Where then did the librettist Sir William Gilbert get the name? It seems that Murgatroyd has a long history as a family name in the English aristocracy. In his genealogy The Murgatroyds of Murgatroyd, Bill Murgatroyd states that, in 1371, a constable was appointed for the district of Warley in Yorkshire. He adopted the name of Johanus de Morgateroyde - literally John of Moor Gate Royde or 'the district leading to the moor'.
Whether the Murgatroyd name took that route from Yorkshire to Yellowstone Park we can't be certain. Unless there's a Betsy Murgatroyd hiding in the archives, that's as close as we are likely to get to a derivation.
2007-06-17 12:55:40 · answer #1 · answered by somathus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Murgatroyd.
Its a saying like "Good God" or something like that.
It was started by Snagglepuss - a minor character in 1959 on episodes of Quick Draw McGraw, Augie Doggie, and Snooper & Blabber. Snagglepuss's favorite sayings were "Exit stage left" and "Heavens to Murgatroyd."
The Murgatroyd he referred to could have been the Murgatroyd family of 14th C. Britain, but it could also have been any name they chose - I think it was chosen because its an unusual and interesting name.
2007-06-17 19:57:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There was a cartoon character named Snagglepuss that would say "Hevens to Murgatroyd". There is also an album by Thee Headcoats with that title. There is no dictionary definition for either word.
2007-06-17 19:55:03 · answer #3 · answered by chuck w 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its "Heavens to Mergatroids"
No idea what it means though
Its what we old people were brought up on
2007-06-17 19:54:39 · answer #4 · answered by gfulton57 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. It's just a figure of speech.
2007-06-17 19:53:55 · answer #5 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's just a word he made up.
2007-06-17 19:53:49 · answer #6 · answered by theycallmegrace 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋