# To go crazy/mad



## brian

Spurred on by a discussion in the Italian-English forum.

*Italian:* _andare fuori dai gangheri_.

Literally, "to go out from the hinges" I think.  More commonly used for "to go crazy/mad."

I learned from Manuel_M that in BE "to be unhinged" means "to be mad" in the sense of "crazy."

What are the common phrases/idioms in your language for "to go crazy/mad" and what do they mean _literally_?

(By the way, is it still common in BE to use "mad" for "crazy"?  Here in the States, teachers often get mad (angry ) when I use "mad" to mean "crazy" because they think it is too confusing for readers...I think that's BS.)


Brian


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## Becker

In Sinhalese it's _pissu yanawaa _or_ pissu haedenawaa_


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## ronanpoirier

Portuguese:

Ficar louco.

Literally: To become crazy. (Actually the verb "ficar" has a lot of meanings the most common are "to become" and "to stay".)


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## volky

In spanish (Puerto Rico) we have different ways of saying it.

Se volvió loco. (He went mad/crazy)

Está tostao. (He is toasted. this is a more informal way and has to do with becoming crazy because you are burned out)

Se craqueó. (Another informal slang. He cracked out).

Perdió la chaveta/cabeza. (he lost his head).

As you can see, the first one is the more formal one.


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## larosa

*In Hungarian:*

Megőrülni


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## robbie_SWE

Swedish
*Har du tappat förståndet!!??* (have you lost your senses??!!)
*Är du från vettet??* (have you left all sense behind) 

Romanian
*Ai capiat de tot!!!* (you have totally lost it!)
*Ta prostit Dumnazeu??!!* (has God made you stupid??)

Hmm...sorry, but I couldn't come up with any funnier. These are the most used. Hope this helped! 

  robbie


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## brian

robbie_SWE said:
			
		

> Swedish
> *Har du tappat förståndet!!??*(have you lost your senses??!!)
> *Är du från vettet??* (have you left all sense behind)
> 
> Romanian
> *Ai capiat de tot!!!* (you have totally lost it!)
> *Ta prostit Dumnazeu??!!* (has God made you stupid??)
> 
> Hmm...sorry, but I couldn't come up with any funnier. These are the most used. Hope this helped!
> 
> robbie



Haha...wow..."Has God made you stupid??"  I like that one.  It's harsh!  How about "You are divinely mad!!"  Sounds Shakespearean.


Brian


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## robbie_SWE

Indeed it does!


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## Whodunit

In German it's "*verrückt werden*" (to become crazy).


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## ukuca

Turkish:
- Çıldırdı.
- Delirdi.
these also has meaning that "he's very angry". But when you say:
- Keçileri kaçırdı. or
- Aklını kaçırdı.
you mean that "he became insane".


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## Etcetera

In Russian:
- сойти с ума (sojti s uma) - it's the most common collocation.
- спятить (spyatit) - pretty informal, almost never used in written speech.


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## robbie_SWE

Oops! Just found one more in Romanian! 

*A-si lua campii* = _to take one's fields (to relinquish sanity)_

 _robbie_


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## Mutichou

In French, we say "devenir fou" ("to get crazy").
We also have some expressions like "perdre la tête" ("to lose one's head").


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## linguist786

In *Urdu/Hindi*, we say "Paagal hojaanaa" (lit. "to become crazy")
In *Gujarati*, the same word is used: "Paagal thai jawu" (lit. to become crazy")


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## Bienvenidos

Persian:

*díwanah shodan
*
(Shod pronounced like SHOULD)
*Bien*


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## karuna

*In Latvian:
*
_Sajucis prātā – _mixed in the mind (pretty neutral)
_Tev visi nav mājās – _you don't have all at home (irony)
_Vienas skrūves trūkst – _lacks one screw ("What an idiot!")
_Norāvies no ķēdes – _broken loose from the chain (now the sky is the limit  )
_Sagājis sviestā – _Turned into butter (What substance I used for thinking before?  )


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## linguist786

Bienvenidos said:
			
		

> Persian: *díwanah shodan*


Blimey.. that's strange! "diwaanah" means "in love"/"head over heals" in Hindi!


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## Bienvenidos

linguist786 said:
			
		

> Blimey.. that's strange! "diwaanah" means "in love"/"head over heals" in Hindi!



And it means crazy in Farsi.  Can't deny that they're synonyms!      

*Bien*


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## HUMBERT0

volky said:
			
		

> In spanish (Puerto Rico) we have different ways of saying it.
> 
> Se volvió loco. (He went mad/crazy)
> 
> Está tostao. (He is toasted. this is a more informal way and has to do with becoming crazy because you are burned out)
> 
> Se craqueó. (Another informal slang. He cracked out).
> 
> Perdió la chaveta/cabeza. (he lost his head).
> 
> As you can see, the first one is the more formal one.


 
También en español decimos:
Enloquecer = To go mad
Perder el jucio = To loose sanity


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## elroy

In Arabic, we have a verb that expresses the idea of "going crazy" (as with most other "to get/become/go + _adjective_" constructions). 

Standard Arabic: هل جننت؟ - _Hal junint?_ (Have you [m.] gone crazy?)
Colloquial Palestinian Arabic: نجنيت؟ - _Njanneet?_ (Have you [m.] gone crazy?)

Other possibilities (in colloquial Palestinian Arabic):

فقدت عقلي - _Fa2adet 3a2li _(I lost my mind)
فقدت صوابي - _Fa2adet Sawaabi _(I lost my consciousness)
نهبلت - _Nhabalet _(I became stupid)
نصرعت - _NSara3et _(I went crazy [as one obsessed with a fad])
طار عقلي - _Taar 3a2li_ (My mind flew away)

Obviously, there are certain contexts in which certain expressions are more common/appropriate/likely.  Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate.


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## brian

karuna said:
			
		

> *In Latvian:*
> _Sagājis sviestā – _Turned into butter (What substance I used for thinking before?  )



I particularly enjoyed this one.  Why butter?  Who knows...


Brian


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## volky

Maybe they refer to the melted butter.


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## Ilmo

Finnish:
To get crazy/mad = tulla hulluksi


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## karuna

volky said:
			
		

> Maybe they refer to the melted butter.



Actually, churned butter. I have always wondered about this myself because butter is even better than milk, cream or yoghurt. But the idea, probably, is that a drastic change has happened with the milk (or your brain).


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## Outsider

There's a curious phrase in Portuguese, _perder a tramontana_. _Tramontano_ is the name given to the inhabitants of a region in northern Portugal, so I suppose the literal meaning of this expression is something like "losing sense of the North", i.e. "becoming disoriented".

There's also _perder o juízo_, "to lose one's mind", but literally "to lose one's judgement".



			
				ronanpoirier said:
			
		

> Portuguese:
> 
> Ficar louco.


Or "doido". There are even verbs for it: _enlouquecer, endoidecer_. And an old-fashioned one, _ensandecer_.


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## shaloo

In Telugu: Pitcheykkindaa? (Have u gone crazy?) 
Pitchi = Crazy and Ekkindaa? = did _it_ get on u?(literally).
Or u can simply say .......Pitchaaa? == Crazy??

In Tamilaityamaa? (Crazy??)


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## Willi

Other phrases in Italian

Andar fuori di testa (to go out of one's head)
Perdere la testa (to lose one's head)
Dare di matto 
Dare i numeri (to give numbers)


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## übermönch

In German there's also

Hast du noch alle Tassen im Schrank?
Do you still have all cups in the cupboard?

Bist du...
Are you...

...total übergeschnappt?
...totally oversnapped(=mad)?

...blem-blem?
...blem-blem?

...bekloppt?
...barmy?

...voll durchgeknallt?
...entirely banged through?


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## robbie_SWE

Just remembered one in Swedish! 

*Hon/han har någon skruv lös!* _(he/she has a screw lose)_

  robbie


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## cyanista

Etcetera said:
			
		

> In Russian:
> - сойти с ума (sojti s uma) - it's the most common collocation.



сойти с ума literally translates as "go off one's mind"

There is a also very popular expression: крыша поехала. It approximately means "the roof is off". 

У тебя что, крыша поехала? - lit. Is your roof off? (Are you off your rocker?)


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## betulina

Bienvenidos said:
			
		

> Quote:
> Originalmente publicado por *linguist786*
> _Blimey.. that's strange! "diwaanah" means "in love"/"head over heals" in Hindi!_
> 
> And it means crazy in Farsi.  Can't deny that they're synonyms!



They are indeed synonyms! Many languages have the expression "I'm mad about you"!!  

In Catalan we have more expressions for "to be mad" than for "to go mad", which are quite similar to the other Romance languages mentioned above:

-_perdre el cap_ (to lose one's head -- if you add "for someone" then it means that you are in love with him/her... again!  )

-_perdre el seny_ (to lose one's judgement)



			
				Outsider said:
			
		

> There's a curious phrase in Portuguese, _perder a tramontana_. _Tramontano_ is the name given to the inhabitants of a region in northern Portugal, so I suppose the literal meaning of this expression is something like "losing sense of the North", i.e. "becoming disoriented".


It made me think that in Catalan (like in Spanish I think) "la tramuntana" is the wind from the North, and there is a region in Catalonia (l'Empordà, next to France) where it blows really hard sometimes and people say that this wind turns people mad. There's even a song saying "molt tocat per la tramuntana" (very touched by the tramuntana) and everyone understands that it means "mad, crazy". 

Cheers!


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## zaby

Mutichou said:
			
		

> In French, we say "devenir fou" ("to get crazy").
> We also have some expressions like "perdre la tête" ("to lose one's head").


 
Some colloquial adjectives in French for "crazy" (and a rough literal meaning) : _dingue, toqué _or _frappé_ (hit), _zinzin, ravagé_ (ravaged), _allumé_ (lighted), _timbré_ (stamped), _fêlé (_cracked_), fada_ (used in the south of France), _barjot_ or _barje, taré,_ _chtarbé, siphonné (_siphoned_), marteau_ (hammer), _maboul, déjanté, ouf_ (verlan for 'fou'), _givré_ (frosted), _cinglé, piqué_ (stung)

Other expressions with their literal meanings: 
"_avoir une case vide/en moins_" (to have an empty/missing box)
"_perdre la boule_" (to loose one's ball)
"_Avoir une araignée au plafond_." (to have a spider on the ceiling)
"_Avoir un petit vélo dans la tête_." (to have a small bike in one's head)
"_Travailler du chapeau_." (how can you translate _that_ ?  ... to work from the hat ? )


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## paul77

In tagalog:

na babaliw!  to go crazy


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## Xerinola

Very good Betulina! "*Tocat per la tramuntana*" it's a very popular and original way to say "to go mad"! I love this idiomatic expression!

Another way to say this in catalan would be: 
*S'ha tornat boig!* (He get crazy) 
*Se li ha girat el cap* (his head turns) 
*S'ha begut l'enteniment*" (he drank his intelligence,hehe I also love this one!)


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## zaby

betulina said:
			
		

> *Originalmente publicado por Outsider *
> *There's a curious phrase in Portuguese, perder a tramontana. Tramontano is the name given to the inhabitants of a region in northern Portugal, so I suppose the literal meaning of this expression is something like "losing sense of the North", i.e. "becoming disoriented".*
> 
> 
> ​It made me think that in Catalan (like in Spanish I think) "la tramuntana" is the wind from the North, and there is a region in Catalonia (l'Empordà, next to France) where it blows really hard sometimes and people say that this wind turns people mad. There's even a song saying "molt tocat per la tramuntana" (very touched by the tramuntana) and everyone understands that it means "mad, crazy".


In French ,we say "perdre la tramontane" too as well as "perdre le nord" (to loose the North) and "perdre la boussole" (to loose compass) 
As Betulina explained for Catalunia, _la tramontane_ is a wind blowing from the North, present in the South of France.


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## Willi

zaby said:
			
		

> In French ,we say "perdre la tramontane" too as well as "perdre le nord" (to loose the North) and "perdre la boussole" (to loose compass)
> As Betulina explained for Catalunia, _la tramontane_ is a wind blowing from the North, present in the South of France.


 

In Italian we too say "perdere la tramontana" or "perdere la bussola".


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## Outsider

You've made me look up the word in the dictionary. 



> tramontana
> 
> do It. _tramontana_, além dos montes (Alpes)
> 
> s. f.,
> estrela polar que indica o norte;
> fig.,
> rumo;
> direcção;
> gír.,
> cabeça.
> 
> perder a -: perder o rumo, desorientar-se;
> por ext.  atarantar-se, perder a cabeça.


So, we got it from Italian. It doesn't make any mention of wind, though.


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## zaby

So I looked in the dictionary too  and I saw that the expression "perdre la tramontane" is not related to the wind.
Tramontane is an old word to say _étoile polaire_ (the pole star) -_edit_: _as in Portuguese_. The expression "perdre la tramontane" was used by sailors when they couldn't use the pole star to find their way.
French tramontane comes from Italian tramontana too.


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## Aldin

In BHS/Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian/
poludjeti/poludeti=to go crazy
izgubiti razum=to lose mind-official language

pošiziti=lit. to go dance wild
pobenaviti(bosnian)
šenuti-colloquial language


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## avalon2004

Just like most languages, Greek has a plethora of words related to craziness in informal speech, but the most common term is *τρελαίνομαι* [trelénome]. There is another synonymous verb but it isn't used as often-* παλαβώνω* [palavóno]. If you want to say someone's gone mad in the head, you can also say *τα΄χει χαμένα *[ta chee chaména] (i.e he/she's lost it). *Τρελάθηκες!;* [treláthikes] is a common way of asking someone "have you gone mad?"


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## cremba

ok, in hebrew we definitely have "to go off the tracks" (laredet mehapasim") for someone who's behaving weird or crazy. WE also have "one of his screws fell" (Nafal lo boreg) and "he slipped on his head" (nafal al harosh)


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## big-melon

Chines: 你疯了


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## optimistique

In Dutch it is literally: *gek worden*

Other expressions for it: 
*doordraaien* (lit: to turn through, to not stop turning)
*doorslaan* (to go too far in something/ to lose one's mind, lit: to beat through, to not stop beating)
*ze niet meer allemaal op een rijtje hebben *(to not have them all on a row anymore)

_Have you completely gone mad?/Have you completely lost your mind_:

*Ben je nou helemaal gek geworden?* (litt: Have you completely gone mad now?)
*Ben je nou helemaal betoeterd?* (litt: Are you completely claxonised now?  )
*Heb je ze nog wel allemaal op een rijtje?* (litt: Do you still have them all on a row?)
*Volgens mij zit er bij jou een schroefje los - *(litt: According to me/I think that you have a screw loose)
*Voel jij je nog wel helemaal lekker? -* (litt: Do you still feel completely well? (of course sarcastically meant))
*Ben jij nog wel goed bij je hoofd?* - (more or less litt: Are you still fine in your head?)
*Ben je nou helemaal...? *- (litt: Are you completely... now?; a sentence that is never finished because the anger of the spreaker is too great )


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## panjabigator

paagal ho jaanaa (H/U)
paagal ho jaaNaa (P)

The difference between the n and N is a positioning of the tongue.


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## Thomas1

In Polish we use:
wściec się - to become rabietic, to go mad
wyjść z siebie - to go out of yourself




Tom


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## suma

elroy said:
			
		

> In Arabic, we have a verb that expresses the idea of "going crazy" (as with most other "to get/become/go + _adjective_" constructions).
> 
> Standard Arabic: هل جننت؟ - _Hal junint?_ (Have you [m.] gone crazy?)
> Colloquial Palestinian Arabic: نجنيت؟ - _Njanneet?_ (Have you [m.] gone crazy?)
> 
> Other possibilities (in colloquial Palestinian Arabic):
> 
> فقدت عقلي - _Fa2adet 3a2li _(I lost my mind)
> فقدت صوابي - _Fa2adet Sawaabi _(I lost my consciousness)
> نهبلت - _Nhabalet _(I became stupid)
> نصرعت - _NSara3et _(I went crazy [as one obsessed with a fad])
> طار عقلي - _Taar 3a2li_ (My mind flew away)
> 
> Obviously, there are certain contexts in which certain expressions are more common/appropriate/likely. Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate.


 
I once had a teacher who had a very expressive way of saying things,
he'd say:                 

    aaal-jununu yu seebuk?   آلجنون يصيبك ؟

which is kinda like saying "are you suffering a fit of madness?"​


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## vince

Cantonese: 發癲 (faat din) or 發神經 (faat san ging)

Lunatic! 癲婆! (din po) (woman); 癲佬! (din lou) (man)


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## zaja

Hey, adding about the issue of "tramuntana"... I have found this in the Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana:

 tramuntà -ana  


  [s. XIV; del ll. _transmontanus, -a, -um_, íd.]

*1 * _ adj_  De l'altre costat de les muntanyes.  

*2 * _ f_  Nord, punt cardinal. _A la banda de tramuntana._  

*3 * _ f_ _1 _ _METEOR_ Vent que bufa del nord i que sol ésser molt fred i fort.  
So, the Catalan word of "tramuntana" comes from latin, that's why all the latin languages seem to have it. I adventure to say that the initial meaning was North and in Catalonia and in South France was taken as a name of the northern wind afterwards.
We also have in Catalan "perdre el nord", as in French and Italian.


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## werrr

In Czech:

zbláznit se
pomást se
pominout se
zešílet


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## JLanguage

cremba said:
			
		

> ok, in hebrew we definitely have "to go off the tracks" (laredet mehapasim") for someone who's behaving weird or crazy. WE also have "one of his screws fell" (Nafal lo boreg) and "he slipped on his head" (nafal al harosh)


 
Although not an expression, to go insane is literally להשתגע. Transliteration: Lehishtage'a.


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## obelladoblejeixo

other xpressions in catalan:
-estar tocat del bolet 
-estar tocat de l'ala
-perdre la xaveta (castellanització)
-estar com una cabra (also in spanish but changing com for como)
spanish:
-estar como una regadera
-estar como una chota 
thats's all!! (per favor, q algu tradueixi les expressions a l'anglés, q jo no n sé prou...)


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## kewongjapan

paul77 said:


> In tagalog:
> 
> na babaliw! to go crazy


 
Also, tagalog: lukuluko ka! (lit. trans: Crazy you)

and Malay: Jadi gila ka? (Have you gone mad/crazy)


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## minicooper

avalon2004 said:


> Just like most languages, Greek has a plethora of words related to craziness in informal speech, but the most common term is *τρελαίνομαι* [trelιnome]. There is another synonymous verb but it isn't used as often-* παλαβώνω* [palavσno]. If you want to say someone's gone mad in the head, you can also say *τα΄χει χαμένα *[ta chee chamιna] (i.e he/she's lost it). *Τρελάθηκες!;* [trelαthikes] is a common way of asking someone "have you gone mad?"


 
Additionally we say "*πάω να τρελαθώ*" (pao na trelatho) or "*θα τρελαθώ*" (tha trelatho) which is the actual translation of "*I'm going crazy*"

We use "*τρελαίνομαι*" (trelenome) for something we like very much.
F.e. "Tρελαίνομαι για γλυκά" (trelenome gia glika) "I'm crazy for sweets"


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## Ilmo

robbie_SWE said:


> Just remembered one in Swedish!
> 
> *Hon/han har någon skruv lös!* _(he/she has a screw lose)_
> 
> robbie


 
In *Finnish* there is exactly the same expression as in Swedish, *olla ruuvi löysällä =* "to be crazy" = "to have a screw loose".

Note, *Robbie*, it is with a double o. The verb infinitive is "to lose", but it has another meaning. "To loosen" is "to make loose".


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## robbie_SWE

Ilmo said:


> In *Finnish* there is exactly the same expression as in Swedish, *olla ruuvi löysällä =* "to be crazy" = "to have a screw loose".
> 
> Note, *Robbie*, it is with a double o. The verb infinitive is "to lose", but it has another meaning. "To loosen" is "to make loose".


 
You're right Ilmo! It was a typo that I neglected to correct. 

 robbie


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## Lemminkäinen

Some Norwegian expressions:

*Å være gal* - to be crazy
*Å gå fra vettet* - to be out of your mind (lit. to walk from the senses)
*Å ha en skrue løs* - to have a loose screw 

In response to the original post, we also have an expression, *å gå fra hengslene*, which means 'to become unhinged', but it doesn't mean 'to go crazy', but rather 'to become mad/angry'.


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## samanthalee

cremba said:


> ok, in hebrew we definitely have "to go off the tracks" (laredet mehapasim") for someone who's behaving weird or crazy. WE also have "one of his screws fell" (Nafal lo boreg) and "he slipped on his head" (nafal al harosh)


 
In chinese, we also have something similar to hebrew's "laredet mehapasim". We say "to leave the line" 脱线.


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## mataripis

In Tagalog and Dumaget: 1.) Nabu-ang na/ maging bu-ang  2.) Nagkow-loh-long di .           In simple grammar=  The great quakes will make everyman go crazy! *Tagalog: Ang malaking pagyanig ay magiging dahilan ng pagkabuang ng bawat tao.    **De pa Dumaget:E malagdu a pag iwes ey mapane dehilan ni pagkalolong ni bewet agta.


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## catlady60

English has a number of colorful expressions for going crazy/nuts.

--He lost his mind/head.
--She flipped her lid (slang)
--I went bonkers/bats.
--He has a screw loose.
--He's not playing with a full deck.
--We went mad (chiefly in BE).
--He lost his marbles.


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## OneStroke

vince said:


> Cantonese: 發癲 (faat din) or 發神經 (faat san ging)
> 
> Lunatic! 癲婆! (din po) (woman); 癲佬! (din lou) (man)



癲(crazy)咗(indicates perfect).


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