Search: basket case origin
Why: I just called my aunt one, but then I realized I don't even know what that term is supposed to mean. In The Breakfast Club:
You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case, a princess and a criminal.
She's so off-kilter!
Answer: It comes from the military! After WWI, "basket cases" were those soldiers whose arms-n-legs had been amputated, blown or bayonetted off, leaving them immobile unless carried around by others. Tacky, no? But here is some historical information:
Strangely, the term was never used to describe anyone - only in order to deny that any such servicemen existed. This bulletin was issued by the U.S. Command on Public Information in March 1919, on behalf of Major General M. W. Ireland, the U.S. Surgeon General:"The Surgeon General of the Army ... denies ... that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated ... of the existence of 'basket cases' in our hospitals."
This bulletin was reported on in many U.S. newspapers at the time. Many of them also defined what was meant by 'basket case'. For example, this from the New York paper The Syracuse Herald, March 1919:
"By 'basket case' is meant a soldier who has lost both arms and legs and therefore must be carried in a basket.
Given that the term was originally reserved for incapacitated servicemen, there wasn't much call for it until the next major war of English-speaking peoples - WWII. Again, it comes from the U.S. military and again in the form of a denial from the Surgeon General. In May 1944, in 'Yank', the then Surgeon General said:
"... there is nothing to rumors of so-called 'basket cases' - cases of men with both legs and both arms amputated."
I don't know what he was trying to deny, exactly. Those were both pretty big and violent wars, so there were probably a lot of people who had multiple amputations. What a bizarre lie.
Anyway, now the term refers to someone in a hopeless mental condition, like my aunt, who is a bonafide lunatic.
Source: Phrases.org.uk, American Heritage Dictionary
The More You Know: Do you remember this song from the mid-90s ? I remember it coming on one Saturday morning while I was at gymnastics. The big doors were open because it was sunny and I was wearing a baja over my leotard.
A baja!
