# Who was Mergatroid? (Mergetroid?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090 "2001-10-23T15:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tfines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@tfines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tfines)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/1 "2001-10-23T15:07:47Z")
Snagglepuss frequently said, “Heavens to Mergatroid!” I don’t know if I’m spelling it correctly. Who or what was Mergatroid? (Mergetroid?) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/2 "2001-10-23T15:19:40Z")
I believe it’s spelled **Murgatroyd** , but I don’t know where I know that from, or who it’s supposed to be. Since it’s almost certainly a “cleaned-up” phrase, like “For Pete’s sake” or “Heavens to Betsy”, it makes no more sense to ask who Murgatroyd is than it does to ask about Betsy or Pete. I suspect that Hanna-Barbera folks used it because it sounded different and slightly upper-crusty. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/3 "2001-10-23T15:33:59Z")
Asked and answered, as they say, in an earlier thread. Run a search and you should find it. It didn’t have anything to do with Hanna-Barbera, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/4 "2001-10-23T16:18:24Z")
Here’s [one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=27007) previous thread on this subject. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/5 "2001-10-23T16:24:54Z")
_Murgatroyd_: The name comes from Yorkshire , and represents an unidentified place-name that itself means _Margaret’s clearing_, with the latter part of the name derived from the dialect word _royd_, ‘clearing’. From _Brewer’s Names_. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/6 "2001-10-23T17:04:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*Asked and answered, as they say, in an earlier thread. Run a search and you should find it. It didn’t have anything to do with Hanna-Barbera, IIRC. \*\* Actually, asked and NOT answered. > [@](#): > > We have to leave it [heavens to Betsy] as one of the great mysteries of lexicography, along with the similar ‘heavens to Murgatroyd’. from [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=8905](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=8905) see also [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=27007](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=27007) (mentioned above) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13171](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=13171) Sure could use Cecil’s help on this one. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/7 "2001-10-23T19:59:40Z")
I think Cafe Society is a better place for this thread, so I’ll move it. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-mergatroid-mergetroid/89090/8 "2001-10-23T21:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Who was Mergatroid? Stoid’s long-lost brother, perhaps?