# Do you ever describe persons as "crazy"? What do you mean by it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208 "2012-08-21T20:31:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/21 "2012-08-22T13:06:23Z")
I use crazy to describe a lot of things. Unusual sitation at work? Crazy. Lady on Facebook ranting about how there are signs of the second coming everywhere? Crazy. My schizophrenic uncle? Crazy. Me? You better bet I’m crazy. It’s not really an insult; I think it’s best translated as ''do not understand!" ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/22 "2012-08-22T13:07:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Anyway … I know some persons (including me, to tell the truth) who try to avoid using the word “crazy” as a descriptor for other people. If you’re not one of those people, can you articulate what you are most likely to mean when you use that term? If you are unwilling to use the term, why? The last person I referred to as “crazy” was the daughter of one of my current bosses. The reason I used it was because the gal _really does_ have a diagnosed psychiatric condition and, at the time was off her medication. Thus, I called the boss and said “You’re daughter is acting crazy”. She understood that my meaning was “your daughter is acting like someone with her psychiatric diagnosis”. Other than that, I might refer to someone acting “nutty” or “dysfunctional” or “being a problem” but I tend to avoid “crazy” unless I know the label actually applies. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/23 "2012-08-23T00:22:27Z")
I’d describe someone as crazy if they were espousing a nonsensical idea and were serious about it. I don’t think I really use it other ways, but I certainly wouldn’t shy away from it in a PC way. It’s not a common term these days for people who actually have mental health problems, at least not IME. (London, UK, FTR). I mean, someone might well say that someone who’s doing something weird is crazy, and the root of it might be their mental illness, but it’s not like it’s a common insult applied specifically to the mentally ill rather than just people who were acting oddly. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/24 "2012-08-23T00:53:14Z")
I don’t think I’ve used the word ‘crazy’ in any other manner than to mean it in an Ozzy Osbourne, kinda out there and wild kind of way. Or an “Asshole”, the show, kind of way. I _have_ used the term ‘out there’ in a ‘believes in magic water and prophets and is building a bunker’ kind of way. Honestly, don’t think I’ve EVER heard anyone personally truly refer to someone as ‘crazy’ and mean it in a seriously psychological way. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/25 "2012-08-23T06:12:05Z")
Sure. It’s usually affectionate. It does not mean mentally ill, even if not used affectionately. ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/26 "2012-08-23T13:36:03Z")
I prefer the term “wingnut.” Works for everything for that conspiracy theorist on facebook to that guy yelling at you on the bus. Plus, at least among my circle of friends, it’s a little more affectionate than “crazy.” Kind of implies that a person might be a bit odd, or have mental health issues, but he’s basically harmless. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/27 "2012-08-23T13:50:20Z")
I use crazy when it seems appropriate to use the term. Someone who is 7 foot tall, I’d call “tall”. Someone who is crazy, but not to the extent of being described as a “nutter”, I’d call “crazy”. IANAmentalhealthprofessional. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/28 "2012-08-24T04:57:38Z")
I once described my friend V\*\*\*\* to my (then future, now ex) wife as “crazy”. He is a paranoid schizophrenic. (He is my oldest friend. I have known him since we were both about 8 years old. From what I have seen of him since his breakdown, he stays on his meds and manages OK.) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208/29 "2012-08-24T11:16:26Z")
I use it liberally, often to describe myself and people I care for very much like my boyfriend and sister - although we are all entirely different kinds of crazy. I know (and love) a lot of people who are eccentric, erratic, and/or have a history of emotional problems and mental illness; ‘crazy’ is the perfect one-word descriptor for them sometimes. And me, really. I’m odd, and I’m a depressive, and I do and believe many things most people find strange… It is a word of many meanings: a : full of cracks or flaws : unsound b : crooked, askew 2 a : mad, insane b (1) : impractical (2) : erratic c : being out of the ordinary : unusual 3 a : distracted with desire or excitement b : absurdly fond : infatuated c : passionately preoccupied : obsessed [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-describe-persons-as-crazy-what-do-you-mean-by-it/632208.md?page=1)