Not Playing With a Full Deck
Anyone have any idea how old the phrase "not playing with a full deck" is? I need slang for "out of one's mind" circa 1893, and I am wondering if the "full deck" phrase is old enough. And if not, what...
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We discussed this last January, and I think other times as well. p098.ezboard.com The varieties of formulation are suggested by the snowclones that can go on the blank lines here:_________ is one...
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But he's not asking about the general pattern, he's asking about this specific phrase, which (according to HDAS) isn't attested before 1968. An earlier version, to have only fifty cards in one's deck,...
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Thanks for the help. I agree that "not playing with a full deck" is not acceptable for 1893. I found reference to "off one's rocker" in 1897, which I think is close enough to make it plausible, at...
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Recent movies have many of the variants:www.imdb.com# "101 Dalmatians: The Series" (1997) Rolly: This guy's one doughnut short of a dozen.# "ALF" (1986) Gordon 'ALF' Shumway: I can see you're still...
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Pococurante --- what about "bats in the belfry"? I think it's a fairly old phrase. "Etymology on-line" says "batty" (for "nuts") is cited from 1903, but doesn't say where.
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Good suggestion, Lionello. The big dic has 1901 for "bats in the belfry:b. Colloq. phr. (to have) bats in the belfry: (to be) crazy or eccentric. Similarly (rare) to take the bats. Hence bats = batty...
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Sorry, Ms. Pococurante! To make up for my gaffe, here is the entry for "Insanity" from the 1911 edition of Roget's Thesaurus, later than your period but early enough a lot of the terms are probably...
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"Bats in the belfry" is on the Big List. The 1899 quote is cited in HDAS.
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(didn't check the Big List. Hangs head in paroxysm of self-disgust)
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Does "not playing with a full deck" mean "out of one's mind" anyway? I would have said that that, and all the analogous phrases (a sandwich short of a picnic, etc) refer to imbecility, not insanity.
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I agree, but in the universe of slang the two concepts are inextricably intertwined.
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Crazy as a loon was in use by 1845 - KIRKLAND, Western Clearings: "Why, you're both as crazy as loons!"Mad as a hatter by 1879 - BLACK, Macleod of Dare: "He was as mad as a hatter about her."
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"Mad as a hatter" must pre-date 1865, when Lewis Carroll published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. His inclusion of the Mad Hatter at the tea party would suggest the phrase was already in common...
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Quote:Interesting that "mad as a hatter" can use mad both in the sense of "insane" and "angry" (as in Halburton's example above). "Mad as a March hare" doesn't. Are you quite sure about that? The...
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I take your point, kurwamac, but I would dispute that mad = angry is restricted to the American continent. It's certainly commonly used as such in the UK, no doubt because of the influence of movies...
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You're quite right. Mad in the sense of angry, furious has a long history in the UK.First cite in OED1 is 1300.Edit The entry in OED for this sense is Mad, 6
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