Lost His Marbles Etymology

To lose one s marbles is to lose one s mind.

Lost his marbles etymology.

Meaning mental faculties common sense as in to lose or not have all one s marbles is by 1927 american english slang perhaps oed from earlier slang marbles furniture personal effects the goods 1864 hotten a corrupt translation of french meubles plural furniture see furniture. Who can mistake the meaning of the boy when he had lost his marbles playing keeps. What s the origin of the phrase lose your marbles. 1998 spectator at least that is how i recall the event but i am losing my marbles.

The underlying reference is apparently to the children s game played with multicoloured glass balls. In the 1954 film the caine mutiny humphrey bogart linked insanity with marbles when he showed his character the demented lt. To lose one s marbles is to go mad. From the mid 19th century marbles was also used to mean personal effects goods or more generally stuff.

You needn t say nothing no more to me about no marbles this is most probably why the plural marbles came to be figuratively used to mean mental faculties common sense in the phrases to lose one s marbles to have or not have all one s marbles and variants. Marbles as a term for a person s mental faculties probably originated as early 20th century american slang.