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What is a basket case?In: Idioms and Slang |
Answer
Someone who is in a hopeless mental condition.
Generally means someone that is mentally deficient but on a lighter humorous side can also mean crazy ina harmless way. Somebody that is always doing crazy stupid things could be reffered to as being "A basket case"
I'd always heard that the term came from the First World War and it referred originally to quadruple amputees. At that time, I was told, there was little that could be done for these people in terms of rehabilitation and so they were kept in beds with rails all around. The beds got nicknamed "baskets" and so the veterans who were totally dependent on others for all of their physical -- and, by extension, emotional -- needs came to be called "basket cases."
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First answer by Emilypeeler. Last edit by Tedjoy. Contributor trust: 11 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 45 [recommend question]
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