Potrzebie

Potrzebie (/pɒtrəˈziːbi/; Polish pronunciation: [pɔtˈʂɛbʲɛ], the dative/locative case form of the noun potrzeba, "need") is a Polish word popularized by its non sequitur use as a running gag in the early issues of Mad not long after the comic book began in 1952.

Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman spotted the word printed in the Polish language section of a multi-languaged "Instructions for Use" sheet accompanying a bottle of aspirin.

Kurtzman, who was fascinated with words he found unusual, decided it would make an appropriate but meaningless background gag.

After cutting the word out of the instruction sheet, he made copies and used rubber cement to paste "Potrzebie" randomly into the middle of Mad satires.

In the same issue the word appears as POTS-REBIE, emblazoned on a cauldron in which Robinson Crusoe is roasting a frankfurter.

Frequent repetition gave it the status of a catch phrase or in-joke among the readership which continues to the present day.

[5][6] WolframAlpha uses the originally printed value of a potrzebie, while Google Calculator appears to use a value rounded to 5 significant figures.

In Bernard Krigstein 's "From Eternity Back to Here!" ( Mad 12) the word "Potrzebie" made an early Mad appearance, flying over Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr , and a caricature of Jacques Tati in Mr. Hulot's Holiday . The issue is dated June 1954, the same month the 1953 Tati film had a U.S. release.
Fourth appearance of the word in Jack Davis 's "Book! Movie!" ( Mad #13)