(January 2, 2022 at 11:35 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(January 2, 2022 at 9:02 am)Goosebump Wrote: As in "bats" are "crazy people" yes. I'm the last person apparently. Though I'd argue my teenage nieces would call most of your nomenclature ancient and your inability to understand them "crazy" not batshit crazy. they have their own terms.
It’s an extension of the idiom ‘bats in the belfry’. When the church bells were rung, the bats roosting in the belfry would (understandably) fly out. Hence ‘bats in the belfry’ meant you had nothing going on upstairs.
In a long-abandoned church, the bats could remain undisturbed for years, with the result that the belfry would be full of batshit. Therefore, the craziest of the crazy were ‘batshit crazy’.
Here endeth the lesson.
Boru
I was familiar with the analogy. Just not with it's simplification as just "bats". I'd heard "Your batshit" but never just "bats" and assumed it was something new, not old. Thanks for the lesson!
"I'm thick." - Me