# Origin of "Batshit Crazy"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 23, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884 "2006-08-23T14:20:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884/1 "2006-08-23T14:20:45Z")
I’m thinking about adding this term to my vocabulary, since I’ve recently run into several people who can be described by the term. Anyone know?
---
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884/2 "2006-08-23T14:31:20Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#):
>
> I’m thinking about adding this term to my vocabulary, since I’ve recently run into several people who can be described by the term. Anyone know?
Just a guess that “went bats” / “bats in the belfry” as a decades old metaphor for “crazy” morphed into “went bat + shit crazy”.
[Bats in the belfy phrase origin](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/56600.html)
---
### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884/3 "2006-08-23T15:14:12Z")
Off to GQ! (The mods there have bats in their belfries, so they’ll be able to relate.)
---
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884/4 "2006-08-23T22:32:36Z")
You could read the same thread from a [month](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=381630&highlight=bats+belfry) ago.
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [August 23, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-batshit-crazy/369884/5 "2006-08-23T23:10:23Z")
Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang, under “batshit,” gives to meanings: the one in the OP, and as a verb equivalent to “bullshit,” in the sense of gossip / tell lies. I’ve never heard “batshit” used as a verb, but then, I wasn’t around in the 60s.
Otherwise, they pretty well agree with everything else said in the two threads.