furphy?

[Jonathon Green]

No, nothing to do with murphy.

It's an old (World War I) Australian term, based on the proper name John Furphy, the proprietor of the sanitary carts used by the Australian forces in WW1. His name was prominently painted on all such vehicles. Thence furphy came to mean the gossip and chat that took place among troops gathered round these carts. Furphy, a former ironfounder, made his carts of iron, and on them was inscribed 'Good, better, best, / never let it rest, / till your good is better / and your better best.' The same slogan was also inscribed in Pitman's shorthand. Note UK services, Elsan gen, a rumour, lit. news from the Elsan chemical toilet. And of course scuttlebutt, which is similarly linked to the homonymously named US Navy water barrel (although the first uses of the word were in fact in the UK Royal Navy.)

Jonathon Green