密歇根新闻广播 basket case有着不太光明的过去

It's jarring when you discover that a seemingly harmless everyday word or phrase has an offensive origin story.

The Oxford¹ Dictionary's blog has a list of nine words with offensive origins. You probably already know about a few of these, but others such as "no can do" and "long time no see" may come as a surprise.

One that caught our eye is "basket case."

The first citation² of "basket case" in the Oxford English Dictionary is in 1919, soon after the end of World War I. It came from rumors³ about soldiers who had lost all of their limbs and had to be transported in a basket.

Around the same time, there was some discussion about whether there actually were basket cases. This example appeared in The Boston Globe in 1919: "Maj. Gen. [Merritte] Ireland, surgeon general to the Army, said today there was no foundation for widely circulated and persistent⁴ reports of basket cases in Army hospitals."

The use of "basket case" resurfaced during World War II with a very similar meaning. However, during this time we also start to see some extensions of the term.

In the mid-1940s, "basket case" is used to refer to an ineffective or powerless person. From there, it comes to refer to a country or an organization that's having severe economic difficulties. You can still find recent instances of this use.

Starting in the 1950s, a "basket case" could be a vehicle that has missing parts or is in disrepair. Around the same time, we start to see the use that most people are probably familiar with today, which is a person who is unable to cope for emotional reasons.

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

3 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。