Here's something interesting from Newsweek magazine

[SOJOURNER]

Where did the expression come from?


"BASKET CASE" meaning hysterical


The Oxford English Dictionary's first cited use of the phrase dates back to 1919: the slang referred to "a soldier who has lost both legs and arms and therefore cannot be carried on a stretcher."

Perhaps in attemps to temper the term's insensitivity, the metaphor has since morphed to milder interpretations, such as "one who has been made helpless by stress or mental illness" or "one who is emotionally or mentally unable to cope," finally resulting in today's usage as "hysterical."

[observer1]

That's very interesting! I've often wondered where a lot of our sayings come from. Anyone know about any others??

I was just this very morning thinking how out of date the expression "the pot calling the kettle black" is. Does anyone nowadays have black cookware?

Its obvious I don't spend much time in the kitchen.

[gmc]

Where do you want to start? A surprising number are naval or military in origin.

from firing muskets, Going off half cocked, firing without cocking it properly first, flash in the pan, lock stock and barrel, ramrod straight, full bore,
taken all aback, seven sheets to the wind, in the doldrums, to the bitter end, between the devil and the deep blue sea.

actually most of colloquialism I know are going to be british in origin.