basket case
ever wondered why where the phraseology 'basket case' derives from? wonder no more.
basket case. Offensive Slang. A person, especially a soldier, who has had lost all four limbs in combat and consequently had to be carried in a litter ("basket"). This term in origin had a physical meaning but was then transferred to an emotionally or mentally unstable person and later to anything that failed to function. In popular usage "basket case" now refers to someone in a hopeless mental condition. In the grim slang of the British army during World War I, it referred to a quadruple amputee. This is one of several expressions that first became popular in World War I, or that entered American army slang from British English at that time.
basket case. Offensive Slang. A person, especially a soldier, who has had lost all four limbs in combat and consequently had to be carried in a litter ("basket"). This term in origin had a physical meaning but was then transferred to an emotionally or mentally unstable person and later to anything that failed to function. In popular usage "basket case" now refers to someone in a hopeless mental condition. In the grim slang of the British army during World War I, it referred to a quadruple amputee. This is one of several expressions that first became popular in World War I, or that entered American army slang from British English at that time.
1 Comments:
oi! i'll never be able to call myself that again without getting a vivid image of being horrendously incapacitated, and desperately hoping others will carry me around. Whoa.
So, are you saying that's what you are today? If so, call me. :-)
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