"Losing your marbles"
Posted by Smokey Stover on July 16, 2005
In Reply to: "Losing your marbles" posted by ESC on July 14, 2005
: : Where does the phrase "Loosing your marbles" originate form?
: In the U.S., "losing your marbles" means losing your mind...suffering from mental illness. I am assuming its origin is the children's game of marbles.
The OED describes "losing your marbles" as a colloquialism originating in North America. The citations, beginning in 1902, seem to stress mental acuity and memory rather than mental illness. SS