# What significance, if any, did the word Potzrebie have in old Mad Magazines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869 "2000-06-28T14:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/1 "2000-06-28T14:47:04Z")
During my 1960’s boyhood, part of which was spent reading Mad Magazine and its attendant paperpacks, I remember seeing in various drawings, stories, and cartoons the word “Potzrebie”, or “Potrzebie”. For no apparent reason the word would be worked into the background or corner of the drawings. The earliest occurrence I know of was in the Robinson Crusoe send-up which I saw in the Bedside Mad paperback. This story was written by Bill Elder (?) sometime in the 1950’s. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/2 "2000-06-28T14:56:03Z")
I think you must be confused. Trying to find significance in Mad Magazine is like trying to find ice water in the Sahara. It’s just not there. IIRC, the spelling was even more unpronouncable than you remember: potrzbie. There was a potted plant by that name which appeared occasionally, too. AFAIK, it was just a running gag by the Usual Gang of Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/3 "2000-06-28T15:13:18Z")
Sorry, **pluto,** you’re wrong again. It was “Dubose Heyward.” {smiley thing} ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/4 "2000-06-28T15:13:51Z")
I wasn’t really looking for deep meanings here, but I thought perhaps it was some sort of inside joke that originated for a definite reason. I recall seeing Potzrebie as well as Potrzebie. In the Robinson Crusoe satire, RC is seen at one point stirring something in a huge black pot which is labelled POTS-REBIE. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/5 "2000-06-28T15:21:02Z")
Good question, I’d always wondered aobut that too. The word appeared with a variety of spellings over the years. All I can think of is that MAD, especially in the 1950s, used a lot of Yiddish expressions. Probably also made-up pseudo-Yiddish words, (like “fershlugginer”?) and “potzrebie” seems to have come from some kind of deformed Yiddish. Maybe it was mumbled by someone on the MAD staff who was farblondjet drunk, and picked up by Kurtzman or Elder. (The title of “Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida” came about in that fashion.) Think of “putz” and “rabbi”. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/6 "2000-06-28T15:30:52Z")
From AFU: > [@](#): > > Prof. Donald “Art of Computer Programming” Knuth’s 1st publication was in MAD mag. (MAD #33 “The Potrzebie system of weights and measures”) That was 1957. But that doesn’t say Knuth coined it. I found a more complete blurb in [http://www.cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/knuth.html](http://www.cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/shasha/outofmind/knuth.html) > [@](#): > > In high school, Knuth won honorable mention in the > Westinghouse Science Talent Search with an unusual proposal: The potrzebie system of weights and measures. With the care that would mark his later career, Knuth defined his basic units precisely: the potrzebie to be the thickness of MAD Magazine 26; a MAD to be 48 things; and a whatmeworry, the basic unit of power. In June of 1957, Mad Magazine itself bought the piece for 25, the first publication of Donald’s > prolific career. Still doesn’t say Knuth coined it. He appears to have just been playing with MAD references. In fact, [http://www.sff.net/people/diccon/PAPA.HTM](http://www.sff.net/people/diccon/PAPA.HTM) has the following: > [@](#): > > POTRZEBIE (“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. The word does crop up in some pages which appear to be in some slavic language. Any Polish speakers who can verify this? ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/7 "2000-06-28T17:01:42Z")
Villie!!! Villie Elder!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Sheepshead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Mr.Sheepshead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Sheepshead)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/8 "2000-06-28T17:32:14Z")
So then the pronounciation should be along the lines of (paht-jhee-bee), then? I live in a largely Polish town, so I’m used to deciphering their last names (Rzenkowski=Jhen kus kee, Przybylski=Shuh bill skee, Byczynski= Buh chihn skee, etc). However, I assume some of these are pidgeon pronounciations. Help me out Poles! I need to know! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/9 "2000-06-28T18:53:41Z")
I used to know a German couple; the wife had apparently lived in pre-World War II Germany, the part that is now in Poland. She spoke Polish. She told me that _potrzebie_ (pronounced “po-TREBB-yeh),” means “It is necessary to me.” (like the Spanish _me necesita_ or _me importa,_ or the French _il me faut._ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/10 "2000-06-28T19:56:19Z")
FWIW, I tried running “potrzebie” through the [InterTran page](http://www.tranexp.com:2000/InterTran), but it wouldn’t translate it. So I tried some English to Polish translations. (“l/” is the Polish character that looks like “l” with a slash through it, and it’s pronounced like English “w”.) I need two beers. JA potrzebowac dwa piwa. I want two beers. JA potrzeba dwa piwa. Beer is wanted. Piwo jest potrzebowal/. Beer is needed. Piwo jest potrzebny. Unwanted sound is noise. Niepotrzebny zdrowy jest hal/as. Unneeded sound is noise. (same as previous!) It is necessary to me. To jest konieczny do mnie. (probably a literal translation.) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/11 "2000-06-28T20:29:36Z")
This sounds as though it might be similar to Edward Lear’s “runcible.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/12 "2000-06-28T21:13:23Z")
> [@](#): > > This sounds as though it might be similar to Edward Lear’s “runcible.” To a certain extent. Lear used _runcible_ as sort of an all purpose adjective of indeterminate meaning, _potrzebie_’s meaning was equally indeterminate but the usage was even more general. But it’s obvious that _potrzebie_ derives from Polish, while _runcible_ is one of the rare pure coinages in English. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/13 "2000-06-28T22:56:40Z")
I found a Usenet post on this subject on Deja in soc.culture.polish. The subject is ‘“Potrzebie”–what does it mean?’, the post is dated 12/31/99, and the author is Piotr Trela. He quotes wieslaw\_no\_spam@algonet.se (from a post that didn’t show up). Here’s an **exact** copy of the explanation given: > [@](#): > > Us usualy potrzebie is always with “w” +" potrzebie" and means “in need” ---
**Author:** ![NickyLarson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b2d939/32.png) [@NickyLarson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NickyLarson)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/14 "2000-06-28T23:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > … There was a potted plant by that name which appeared occasionally, too. > > AFAIK, it was just a running gag by the Usual Gang of Idiots. > \*\* Actually, I think the potted plant was named ‘Arthur’. I have the Broderbund set of CD-ROMs, I’ll see what I can find… ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/15 "2000-06-28T23:48:44Z")
More from InterTran: I am in need of a bottle of beer. JA jestem w potrzebie butelka piwa. And translated back to English - ME I’m in need of beer bottle. He is needy. on jest be,dsVcy w potrzebie. (“e,” is “e” with a cedilla, “sV” is “s” with an inverted “^” over it.) Translating this back to English give the exact same phrase. The Polish word ‘w’ by itself translates as ‘on’. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/16 "2000-06-29T01:06:03Z")
Even if you now know what “potrzebie” literally means, you STILL have no idea what it meant to the Mad staff! Hey, I KNOW that an “axolotl” is some kind of salamander, but I still have no clue why the Mad syaff found that word (along with potrzebie) so hilarious. Guess we had to be there. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/17 "2000-06-29T04:24:41Z")
[hijack] Since we’re trying to find meaning in MAD, what’s up with the “ind” beside the “M” on the cover? [/hijack] And yes, the plant was named Arthur, and it really existed in the MAD offices in the '60’s. Arthur was a potted pot plant belonging to one of the UGoI. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/18 "2000-06-29T06:10:26Z")
“Arthur” was an avocado plant. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/19 "2000-06-29T23:09:35Z")
Right, Zygstardst. 🙂 “Arthur” was not a marijuana plant. (Art director John Putnam did have one, until Feldstein or Gaines saw it and ordered it removed lest they get busted. Putnam complied.) The “IND” refers to _Mad’s_ distributor, INDependent News. (In various _Mad_ histories it’s noted how Gaines went over to Independent after Leader News, which owed him $100,000 at the time (1956), went bankrupt and gave up the ghost.) The scrawny crow-like bird was named “Corwin.” The odd-looking blimplike thing seen in the magazine during the 60s was the MAD Zeppelin, or, as one reader wrote, “That balloon with the boat hanging…I mean the steam engine under the…I mean…well, you know what I mean!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869/20 "2000-06-30T16:49:24Z")
The potted plant ‘Arthur’ is back in Mad. The July 2000 issue of Mad (which I read at Barnes & Nobles - no hotties around the store, so no need to worry about looking uncool) has a parody ‘Behind the scenes at Sports Night’ (or some such - most of the jokes revolve around the low ratings of the show, and the probability it will get cancelled). In the middle scene of the parody, some big-shot named Issac is in his office giving a young lady a pep talk revolving around Jackie Robinson. In the upper left of the office is a tall potted plant, clearly (way too clearly, in fact) labeled ‘Arthur’. If this issue hadn’t been laid-out and printed months before I’d say they were reading this board. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-significance-if-any-did-the-word-potzrebie-have-in-old-mad-magazines/23869.md?page=2)