Kama Gets Curious About The Term ‘Basket Case’ [AUDIO]

"Basket Case" is a term loosely used everyday for someone who is a little "crazy" or "loony." You've probably even sang along to Green Day's 1994 hit song titled "Basket Case." It's one of those terms that is widely used, but the origin is usually unknown. I mean think about the words "basket" and "case" and what it means.

After I did my Google research and found the origin, I was a little shocked. I decided to ask some of my coworkers and friends what a "basket case" means to them and if they knew the origin of the term.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A "BASKET CASE?" (explicit answer comes from an engineer)

I NOW ASK IF ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE KNOW THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM (the engineer gives a "solid try" answer here)

THE ANSWER...NOW THAT YOU ARE DYING TO KNOW THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM "BASKET CASE"

In short, all my searches led to it being a slang term coming from World War I referring to a quadruple amputee, sometimes being carried in a basket because they had no limbs, therefore sometimes referred to as a "basket case."

DOES THIS CHANGE YOUR FEELINGS ON USING THE TERM?

Comment below and let me know.

FreeDictionary.com gives the following

basket case

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.

Filed Under: Basket Case, Origins

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