In addition to this, a hasp of the same material, firmly fastened by carpet-tacks and a catch of bent wire, bade defiance to burglars, midnight marauders, and safe-breakers. In the winter of 1901-02, while rummaging an old closet in the shed-chamber of my father's house, I unearthed a salt-box which had been equipped with leather hinges at the expense of considerable ingenuity, and at a very remote period. see introduction to 'The real diary of a real boy' by Henry A Shute at. Before mass prosperity made both marbles and other playthings a commonplace item they were much prized (e.g. In the absence of any more conclusive evidence I'm inclined to suppose that the expression alludes to the loss of physical marbles. For example, ‘Grandma may be in a wheelchair, but she still has all her buttons,’ or ‘I’m not sure he has all his marbles.’ These slangy expressions date form the mid-1800s, as do the antonyms ‘lose’ or ‘be missing some of one’s buttons’ or ‘marbles,’ meaning ‘become (or be) mentally deficient.’ HAVE ALL ONES BUTTONS or HAVE ALL ONE’S MARBLES also see ‘lose one’s marbles’: be completely sane and rational. LOSE ONE’S MARBLE’S, TO: phrase to go mad, to lose control (cf. as if senile [from an earlier phrase ‘let his marbles go with the monkey’ from a story about a boy whose marbles were carried off by a monkey “Lose one’s ‘taw’” (a choice playing marble), ‘go crazy,’ is found by 1902.
LOSE ONE’S MARBLES: verb phrase by 1920s To become foolish, irrational, forgetful, etc. and the smoke-holder like a man who is shy of his marbles.’ ĭictionary of American Slang (Chapman’s): MARBLES: one’s sanity or good sense especially in phrase ‘lose (ones) marbles’ ‘1902 ‘Up to You’ by Hobart, page 64: ‘I see-sawed back and forth between Clara J. normal rational mental faculties, brains sanity, wits common sense: ‘to have all one’s marbles ‘to lose one’s marbles.’ 6. MARBLES (used with a singular verb) a game for children in which a marble is propelled by the thumb to hit another marble so as to drive it out of a circle drawn or scratched on the ground. a small ball originally made of marble, now usually of glass, clay, porcelain, etc. sculptures, buildings, floors, monuments, tombs, etc.) 3. an object made of or carved from this stone (e.g. a recrystallized limestone that is capable of taking a polish. New Shorter OED, Random House, and Merriam-Webster’s Dictionaries: Nevertheless, here’s some background on the origin of ‘losing one’s marbles,’ as in ‘going slightly mad.’ I checked English to Greek, French, and German dictionaries, for example, and I just couldn’t tell if they were the same word or not. It is possible that in other languages the word for the stone of friezes is not the same as the word for the little round balls often used in a children’s games. Martin, I agree with Melvyn’s interpretation of the use of the phrase as probably being a pun on ‘marbles’ provided that you saw this statement written in English.