I'm no Maori chieftan but I've been known to utter those words a few times. Most recently it was during a trip to Oregon when Old Red Toe flared up and I'd left the pills at home. Since I couldn't get a shoe on one foot, I wore a slipper for the flight back to California.
As I hobbled around the Eugene airport I could see the Security people looking my way and whispering to each other. At boarding time the "Red-Toed Slipper Bomber" got the most thorough going-over in the history of Eugene airport security.
Approximately one million people in the United States suffer from attacks of gout. (Did you know that none other than Benjamin Franklin had terrible gouty arthritis!) Gout is nine times more common in men than in women. It predominantly attacks males after puberty, with a peak age of 75. In women, gout attacks usually occur after menopause.
That's interesting because Benjamin Franklin has mtDNA haplogroup 'V' which is predominant in the Sa'ami people (Laplanders, who live in northern Finland).
Next time it flares up, give it a try.