No. 5 "Basket case"

At long last, the fifth installment of your UTOTD. Today’s topic comes from a question received two weeks ago, to which Justine asks: “How about "basket case"?”

For some reason I was expecting to run into problems with this one, as I thought there would be several different origins of the phrase. However, the meaning as well as the origin of this phrase are widely accepted and published by very many reputable sources.

First, from Wikipedia:

“A person who is too impaired to function, or who feels that way. Originated as a phrase in World War I for soldiers who were so badly injured they had to be removed from the battle field on a wicker litter or basket. Has subsequently come to imply mental or emotional impairment ('she was a total basket case before the wedding'). Also used to refer to some malfunctioning mechanism.”

I thought, for sure, there had to be some other origin of this phrase that would have more to do with the way it is used to describe a mental state of mind. However, I was wrong.

Here is what Bartleby.com (American Heritage Dictionary) has to say on the matter:

“NOUN:1. Slang One that is in a completely hopeless or useless condition: “He immediately becomes a psychological basket case, embittered to the point of craziness” (New York). “After World War I, when the Hapsburg empire was split up, little Austria seemed a basket case” (Paul A. Samuelson). 2. Offensive Slang A person, especially a soldier, who has had all four limbs amputated.
OUR LIVING LANGUAGE: In popular usage basket case refers to someone in a hopeless mental condition, but in origin it had a physical meaning. 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. Some of these words reflect technical inventions and innovations of the time, such as parachute, blimp, tank, and bomber, and still have clear military associations. Others have lost most or all of their military connotations, such as ace, chow, slacker, and dud.”

Very interesting indeed. Still not satisfied, I tried to figure how exactly “basket case” came to describe a person in a compromise mental health state. To my surprise, Urban Dictionary.com came up with several different meanings…all very entertaining.

Enjoy!