I see this used, from time to time, as a stereotypical example of total insanity. But I wonder: has any insane person every actually claimed that he or she is a poached egg?
The most famous use of this is from an oft-quoted remark by C. S. Lewis that
I can only remember seeing this used as a reference or allusion to the Lewis quote. I don’t know whether Lewis was the first to use the specific “poached egg” example, or whether it had any basis in some real person’s delusion.
I’ve never heard that phrase used. But then I’d never heard “milky in the filbert” until I started doing crossword puzzles.
I was with a group of people once (oh, mid 1980s). One (Willie) of them worked with the mentally ill. He said that one person whom he was counseling seemed to have no mental problems at all. They had a long conversation, and Willie could not figure out why someone thought the guy was mentally ill. So Willie then asked him if he’d like to grab a bite to eat. The guy politely refused, saying, “I can’t. . . I’m a pork chop.”
Whether that incident really happened or not, I don’t know—but Willie definitely recounted it that way. But. . . about two or three years later, I ran into Willie again, and in the few minutes we chatted, I asked him about the pork chop guy. He looked puzzled and told me he had no idea what I was talking about.
John F. Kennedy claimed to be a Jelly Donut.
Personally I got pickled once.
Looks like I learned two new phrases today. “Milky in the filbert”? I do plenty of NYTimes crossword puzzles, but don’t remember ever coming across that. Off to research what that could possibly mean.
Cecil has addressed a somewhat similar question: Where did we get the idea crazy people think they’re Napoleon?
I’d never heard anything about a crazy person thinking himself a poached egg. Napoleon, sure, but not a poached egg.
Old joke:
A man walks into a psychiatrist’s office and says, “You gotta help me, Doc - I think I’m a dog!”
The psychiatrist rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I see. And how long have you thought that?”
“Oh, ever since I was a puppy.”
Not so: Did John F. Kennedy Proclaim Himself to Be a Jelly Doughnut? | Snopes.com
I’m a poached egg.
It’s a clue for a word like ‘batty’ or ‘nuts’ or ‘loony’.
I have felt like a boiled egg at times.
if someone told me that i’d say they were cracked.
You’d certainly shell out a lot for therapy.
Poached? Fried? Boiled? It’s like a secret society: You haven’t reached the Twelfth Degree until you’re Scrambled.
The kidnapped professor yelled into the phone, “Help, I’m a poached egg…” but was muffled before he could get out ‘head.’
I’m takin’ this thread over easy.
Shir you are.
Egg puns are a dime a dozen. But omelettin’ these slide, this time.
I was reading Elendil’s Heir’s post, and I… I, I thought of that old joke, y’know, the, this… this guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, “Doc, uh, my brother’s crazy; he thinks he’s a chicken.” And, uh, the doctor says, “Well, why don’t you turn him in?”. The guy says, “I would, but I need the eggs.” Well, I guess that’s pretty much now how I feel about relationships; y’know, they’re totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd, and… but, uh, I guess we keep goin’ through it because, uh, most of us… need the eggs.