Even the the brightest, progressive members use it. In reference to struggling football clubs & crap politicians. The origin of the words, is of severely disabled people, usually children, travelled around literally, in whisker baskets. Such was their unfortunate physical conditions. In the big Beatles film, Ringo talks about the distressing incidents, mainly American, of people introducing poor, unfortunate people to the band. Like there was some cure. He uncomfortably, uses the term ‘basket case’, because it was literally, often that.. We all have disability somewhere in our families, so please retire that term, when talking about Wednesday or Derby. Or I’ll copy paste this in reply. Which is a waste of everyone’s valuable time & web space. Okey, blokey, wokey.. COYRs.
Anyway. One of my favourite musical moments just appeared in the Beatles film. Paul’s bass rumbling 16 bars into Paperback Writer. Go listen, loud.
No matter what we are. who we are,how we are. A bit of empathy & consideration for our fellow Human beings
I think adding the subjective ‘case’, is more a 19/20th century addition. Possibly? Chaucer wrote about baskets of bodies. I just don’t like the term. There are better ways to call Derby what they are.?
weird that, i always knew it was a "military" term but always thought it came from when a soldier was sent to Netley ( the army psychiatric hospital) it was always said " he's gone on a basket weaving course to netley" as apparently basket weaving was on of the therapies
There are plenty of words in everyday use that have their origins in something unpleasant. The thing to focus on is the modern day meaning - and the context, of course. Anyone who goes around digging up archaic origins of words, simply to point the finger, is a basket case (an expression I don't normally use, but I'm tempted to use it in every reply to Mr C from now on, until he tires of copying and pasting his opening post above ).
Undoubtedly an offensive turn of phrase, but we're there ever any true 'basket cases'? https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/08/basket-case.html
My version of this is when people say ‘piece of cake’ or ‘piece of pie’ or ‘cake walk’. How you can say stuff like that in this day and age but then I suppose there was a chap on here who advocated for bringing back the minstrel show so there you are.
Bang on, Old Goat, mind you as a rule of thumb, when the cat's got your tongue you'd be pleased as punch
There are suggestions that the term was "invented" to refer to quadruple amputees from The Great War - who were carried around in wicker baskets. However, no soldiers actually had that fate - and the only quadruple amputee was a Canadian soldier who had prosthetic limbs and lived a productive life until the 50s... https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/08/basket-case.html
Not necessarily phrases I use, and I'm not aware of the history behind it. Never heard anyone challenge it either and my views tend to be that if someone has to go to the extent of researching it to find its origins then whoever is using it isn't likely to mean any offence. It is clear basket case however has connotations (to most I'd imagine?) of someone being messed up in some way mentally etc.
Be careful when you use that phrase . As a rule of thumb. I can't remember what it was ,but was told by a certain gender I can't say.