Potrzebie

(Did you want the Stewart/Stark/White fanzine?)

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

("poTREBZyeh") Word popularized by Mad Comics, in which it is used for any convenient part of speech and some that wouldn't occur to the unimaginative. It's actually a Polish word which in negative construction has the sense of "desire"; non-potrzebie, for instance, means unwanted.

Actually, it’s a portmanteau of Yiddish.

The Yiddish used during Mad’s first decade was based on what the founders found to be the funniest-sounding words to evoke their parents’ humorous put-downs, including as ‘bveebleftzer’ and ‘farshimmelt.’
One example is the word ‘furshlugginer,’ derived from the Yiddish word shlogan (to hit). When finally asked by a reader what ‘furshlugginer’ meant, the editorial team replied: “It means the same as ‘potzrebie’ – ed.”

This cued another long-running debate as to the meaning of ‘potzrebie,’ only answered by [co-founder Al] Jaffee in 2016. “It was an expression in Lithuania when I was a kid. Putz is genitals and is applied as an insult to the rebbe. It’s like saying, ‘Oh that stupid teacher’.”
—Jewish News (UK), July 5, 2019.

See also: Ferschlugginer.

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Fanspeak

1950s—

This is a fanspeak page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was coined, whether it’s still in use, etc.