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. 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.

A person or thing too impaired to function. For example, The stress of moving twice in one year left her a basket case, or The republics of the former Soviet Union are economic basket cases. Originating in World War I for a soldier who had lost all four limbs in combat and consequently had to be carried in a litter ("basket"), this term was then transferred to an emotionally or mentally unstable person and later to anything that failed to function. [Slang; second half of 1900s]

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Basket case originally, British slang for a quadruple amputee during World War I, may also mean:

• Derogatory slang for a mentally-ill person or a badly run organization.

Basket Case can mean:

• Basket Case (film), a 1982 horror comedy directed and written by Frank Henenlotter
  • Basket Case 2, the 1990 sequel to Basket Case
  • Basket Case 3: The Progeny, the 1992 final film in the Basket Case series
• "Basket Case (song)", a song by Green Day from their 1994 album Dookie
• "Basket Case (song)", a song from "The Mouse and the Mask"
• Basket Case (novel), a 2002 crime novel by Carl Hiaasen

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