Thank you for taking the time to share such a thoughtful observation! This is the kind of nuance that makes cross-linguistic comparison so tricky (and interesting!). We definitely need to explore this further. I'll discuss it with Mary and Federica to see how we want to address it, but I truly appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Hi Claire. Thanks for your comment. I wrote the English versions of the idioms. I understand what you mean. I think “estar como una cabra” is more of a playful expression than “basket case”. As I mentioned in the post, there are many possible English variations, such as be nuts, be bonkers, off your rocker and many others, like the ones you mentioned.
For me, maybe the closest English version would be “nuts” or “bonkers” (but I’m not a native Spanish speaker). As this post was on idioms, I didn’t focus more on nuts/bonkers, as they aren’t as idiomatic.
I checked for translations of “estar como una cabra” on various sites and “basket case” showed up, but I know we shouldn’t just rely on translation sites.
In terms of the meanings of basket case that you listed from Word Reference, I’ve never ever heard it used to refer to quadruple amputees or for someone who is completely mentally incapacitated. The origin which supposedly came about at the end of World War One to refer to soldiers who had lost all 4 limbs was apparently a myth and there weren’t any documented cases of soldiers who were quadruple amputees.
I’m from the north of England. I’ve only ever heard basket case used to mean that someone is a bit loopy, in the same way as “ off your rocker”, “off your head”, etc. Perhaps it is a regional variation and a good example of how even though some of us speak the same language, we can have different interpretations of expressions.
As I said, it seems like we both have different interpretations and experiences of this idiom. I wouldn't call "be off your trolley/rocker" nice idioms. They sound just as derogatory to me.
I mentioned some other alternatives in the post, making it clear that this isn't the only possible variation.
Thank you for taking the time to share such a thoughtful observation! This is the kind of nuance that makes cross-linguistic comparison so tricky (and interesting!). We definitely need to explore this further. I'll discuss it with Mary and Federica to see how we want to address it, but I truly appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
Hi Claire. Thanks for your comment. I wrote the English versions of the idioms. I understand what you mean. I think “estar como una cabra” is more of a playful expression than “basket case”. As I mentioned in the post, there are many possible English variations, such as be nuts, be bonkers, off your rocker and many others, like the ones you mentioned.
For me, maybe the closest English version would be “nuts” or “bonkers” (but I’m not a native Spanish speaker). As this post was on idioms, I didn’t focus more on nuts/bonkers, as they aren’t as idiomatic.
I checked for translations of “estar como una cabra” on various sites and “basket case” showed up, but I know we shouldn’t just rely on translation sites.
In terms of the meanings of basket case that you listed from Word Reference, I’ve never ever heard it used to refer to quadruple amputees or for someone who is completely mentally incapacitated. The origin which supposedly came about at the end of World War One to refer to soldiers who had lost all 4 limbs was apparently a myth and there weren’t any documented cases of soldiers who were quadruple amputees.
I’m from the north of England. I’ve only ever heard basket case used to mean that someone is a bit loopy, in the same way as “ off your rocker”, “off your head”, etc. Perhaps it is a regional variation and a good example of how even though some of us speak the same language, we can have different interpretations of expressions.
As I said, it seems like we both have different interpretations and experiences of this idiom. I wouldn't call "be off your trolley/rocker" nice idioms. They sound just as derogatory to me.
I mentioned some other alternatives in the post, making it clear that this isn't the only possible variation.
Thanks for the restack, @bnjd!
One time I heard the phrase "raining cats and dogs"...and I was like What? 🤔 Wonderful post 🌹♥️.
Thanks, E.! You definitely need to talk about "raining cats and dogs" with Mary. I know she has opinions about this one ;-).
Really? Now I'm intrigued. 🤔 🌹
jajaj... lo hablamos en el próximo coffee chat si quieres.
Me parece perfecto 🌹
Haha yes. I don't really like this idiom. 😄