Lost His Marbles Origin

Meaning and origin of the phrase to lose one s marbles.

Lost his marbles origin.

This reference from new zealand was printed in the tuapeka times in august 1889. At one time marbles was a slang term for furniture a misrepresentation of the french word for. At one time to lose one s marbles meant to become angry. Another early instance is from the indianapolis morning star indianapolis indiana of 1 st june 1907.

Q from mike pataky. Definitions by the largest idiom dictionary. Umpire harrill lost his marbles in the eighth inning and called five balls on one man before giving him his base. During the late 19th century losing one s marbles began to be used to mean getting frustrated or angry.

Can you tell me the origin of the expression he has lost his marbles meaning gone mad or lost his reason or done something really stupid being a londoner myself i suspected it might be a cockney expression but i recently heard it in peter pan where the uncle who is not quite compos mentis is said to have found his lost marbles. For i tell you that no boy ever lost his marbles more irrevocably than you and i will lose our self respect if we remain to take part in a wordy discussion that ends in a broil. Definition of lost his marbles in the idioms dictionary. Such as in the peter pan film hook from the 90 s.

Also used in the past tense phrase. The orgin of the phrase is unknown but has been referenced numerous times in popular culuture. Lost his marbles phrase. To lose one s marbles means to go insane to take leave on one s wits to lose one s mind.

The idiom to lose one s marbles has a rather convoluted origin.