{"id":24747,"date":"2014-01-30T00:10:31","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T08:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=24747"},"modified":"2014-01-30T02:05:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T10:05:29","slug":"call-someone-insane-basket-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/01\/call-someone-insane-basket-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Call Someone Who is Insane a “Basket Case”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"trench-warfare\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> how the phrase \u201cbasket case\u201d came to mean \u201csomeone who is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, \u201cbasket case\u201d didn\u2019t mean someone who was crazy. Instead, it referred to someone who had a physical disability.<\/p>\n

The phrase has its origins in World War I. Funny enough, one of the earliest known documented instances of the phrase was actually in denial that “basket cases” actually existed, as found in a bulletin issued in March of 1919 on behalf of the United States Surgeon General:<\/p>\n

The Surgeon General of the Army\u2026 denies\u2026that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated\u2026of the existence of basket cases in our hospitals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But just what was the Surgeon General referring to when he said \u201cbasket case\u201d? When this bulletin came out, many newspapers felt the need to define the phrase for their audiences, so apparently the phrase wasn’t widely used at this point. They defined it as \u201ca soldier who has lost both arms and legs and therefore must be carried in a basket.\u201d (The Syracuse Herald, March of 1919)<\/p>\n

Whether they were literally carried around in baskets as the newspapers stated or the phrase originally was just referencing the then common colloquial idea of associating baskets with beggars or helplessness, given the grisly nature of the First World War and anecdotal reports, it seems plausible enough that there probably were at least some “basket cases,” despite the Surgeon General\u2019s denial.<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, the original meaning of \u201cbasket case\u201d was never incredibly common. It wasn\u2019t until World War II that the phrase prominently resurfaced. Near the end of the war in May of 1944, once again, the Surgeon General attempted to deny that there were any basket cases:<\/p>\n

\u2026there is nothing to rumors of so-called \u2018basket cases\u2019\u2014cases of men with both arms and legs amputated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After World War II, the original meaning fell out of favor altogether, likely due to the lack of literal basket cases. However, for a while the phrase expanded to mean someone with a physical disability who was unable to get around by themselves easily.<\/p>\n

Today, of course, it has further evolved to mostly be a slang phrase for someone with a mental disability, or someone who seems to have been moved to act in a crazy fashion for whatever reason.<\/p>\n

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, Google Play Music<\/a>, Feed<\/a>), as well as:<\/p>\n