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ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE LINGUISTICS & CULTURE |
Autor: | pat |
E-mail: | não-disponível |
Data: | 26/MAI/2003 4:48 PM |
Assunto: | Re: Basket-case whammy |
Mensagem: | Jose, "a basket case" is a person who is out of their senses to some degree; nutty, crazy, or even insane. It is much used in colloquial speech, usually to indicate weird and unusual behavior. If someone is nervous and hard to understand, not seeming logical - one might say: "wow, he's a real basket-case, eh?" It is a colorful expression, I believe it is a reference to carrying eggs in a basket - one must be quite careful not to break the eggs - so the person in question is the "eggs", they must be handled very carefully. "Whammy" means a blow, as in "a double blow", a two-fold stroke or action. |