Originally Posted on August 22, 2019

I found this article on Mental Floss.com and thought my readers who might be interesting in linguistics, history or just writing authentic historical dialog in their stories might find this interesting. The Article has 20 items of slang that worked their way into modern British and American English. For Example:

2. Basket Case

While it tends to be used in a fairly lighthearted way today (usually describing someone who constantly makes stupid mistakes, or who crumbles under pressure), the original basket case is an unexpectedly gruesome reminder of just how bloody the War became. In its original context, a basket case was a soldier who had been so badly injured that he had to be carried from the battlefield in a barrow or basket, usually with the implication that he had lost all four of his limbs.

Here’s the link for the full article:

Mental Floss Article