Kalmar Murphy tana iya samun ma'anoni daban-daban dangane da mahallin, amma ga mafi yawan ma'anoni: Annabi na asalin Irish, ma'ana "jarumin teku" ko " zuriyar Murchadh," wanda shine sunan Gaelic. Dokar Murphy, karin magana ce mai ban dariya da ke cewa: "Duk abin da zai iya yin kuskure, zai yi kuskure." gadon da za a iya ninkewa a tsaye a cikin bango, wanda kuma aka sani da gadon bango ko kuma gadon kwance. latsa ko sakewa da maɓalli, galibi ana amfani da shi a cikin kayan lantarki.Ya kamata a lura cewa za a iya samun wasu ma'anoni ko nassoshi ga kalmar "Murphy" a cikin mahalli ko al'adu daban-daban.