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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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<<If a guy made a joke and said a person didn't see what was coming because he had his "blinkers on" NOBODY in Québec would get it because they would automatically think the guy was in his car and had his turning lights on. >> Because Quebecs have their blinkers on. 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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In reply to:
One word, primary sense different in each country, but both senses understood in both. So UK 'mad' = insane, but also understood as crazy; US conversely.
What is the difference between "insane" and "crazy?" My American Heritage defines "insane" as "afflicted with insanity" and "crazy" as "affected with madness; insane." Other than "insane" being a more formal term, the two terms are used interchangeably in the US.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
two terms are used interchangeably in the US.
But don't you find that insane is usually used to describe somebody who did something crazy AND morally bad.
I most often hear crazy used to describe somebody doing something irresponsible or plain stupid but not evil or mean...like "Mike is crazy if he thinks he can jump over twelve cars with his motorcycle"
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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Webster's New World gives no etymology for crazy, but def 1 = having flaws or cracks. The entry above this is craze, which means to break or shatter from ME. It would appear crazy literally means cracked, a word we also like to use for crazy.
Sane, L. sanus or healthy. Insane is 'not sane,' that is, not healthy, although not necessarilly cracked.
Speaking of which, what of "inflammable," which has come to mean 'not inflammable?' (as well as the related "flammable")
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
In reply to:
So UK 'mad' = insane, but also understood as crazy; US conversely.
I assumed when I read this that crazy was a typo for angry.
Bingley
Bingley
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Posts: 393 |
AARGH!! Yes, it was a typo for 'angry'. Well spotted!  Just ignore 'crazy'. It was never mentioned, okay?
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old hand
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old hand
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inflammable and flammable are still synonyms where I come from. the sunshine warrior
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old hand
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old hand
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The word pissed is used in the UK to signify drunk, whereas it means angry in the US. For angry, in the UK, we would use 'pissed off'. Another mad/crazy/angry issue?
For me (without ref to lexicon), 'smart' means:
1. (adj.) Well turned out
2. (adj.) Clever (not necessarily intelligent)
3. (v.) Hurt in a stinging/burning way, but fading away, unlike an ache.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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My psychiatrist friend tells me you are sane or insane there is no grey area.
She maintains the other words are just ways to indicate aberrant or anti-social behaviour among sane people.
IOW - You can't be a little bit insane any more than you can be a little bit pregnant!
You either is or you ain't.
We are talking colloquial vs the true definition. Right? NOT the legal definition used in US courts. OK?
wow
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
Crazy or not
My friend who is a psychologist and who is employed by the court system, tells me that the word "insane", or any equivalent word or term, has no medical meaning -- it is a legal term only, which differs from place to place, and from time to time, as to exactly what constitutes "insanity". In medical terms, the whole concept of mental illness vs. mental health, normality vs. aberration (basically a statistical condition) etc. is a very large and complicated affair with, often, no fixed boundaries or norms.
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