Do you know the phrase 'losing your marbles'?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (341742)
Rockingham, Australia
December 12, 2024 11:11pm CST
The photo has nothing to do with the discussion. These were decorations at our clubhouse Christmas dinner.
To lose your marbles means to lose your wits or sanity.
A response by @xFiacre prompted this discussion. A lovely lady in the village has a very elderly mother who has dementia and needs to go into long-term care. The old lady refuses to budge from her house. Up till now the family has managed the situation themselves with help from various care services. The mother has fallen several times but hasn’t activated her alarm and the situation is becoming desperate.
Last time she fell, an ambulance was called to help get her up. However, she refused to go in the ambulance to the hospital. She knows that, if she goes by ambulance to hospital, it’s possible they will refuse to let her return to her home. It’s all very sad but the old lady has at least still some of her wits. In the end of course, she won’t have any option but to move into a nursing home.
21 people like this
21 responses
@Beestring (14672)
• Hong Kong
13 Dec
Nice picture.
No, I didn't know this phrase. Thanks.
4 people like this
@aninditasen (16505)
• Raurkela, India
13 Dec
That's really sad. The poor old lady has got emotionally attached to her house. At time we loose our marbles because of stress.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (341742)
• Rockingham, Australia
2h
@aninditasen As long as you don't get too lonely, that's a good idea.
@aninditasen (16505)
• Raurkela, India
22h
@JudyEv I stay alone. So there's no one to bother me which keeps me away from stress.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (181284)
• United States
13 Dec
This is so very sad since it mirrors the situation that I am in with my husband. Hard choices have to be made.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (341742)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Dec
@LindaOHio I'm surprised you have any marbles left after the terrible year you've had.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (181284)
• United States
14 Dec
@JudyEv I'm "losing my marbles" over the whole situation..
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (51458)
• Canada
13 Dec
I am aware of the phrase.
I remember when my brother-in-law suffered some major strokes.
Once they got him stabilized they wanted to take him for a week's observation to a city about an hour away for possible treatments.
He got it into his head that they were 'taking him away' and that he would never see his family again.
On the contrary.
His wife and sister-in-law were waiting for him at the hospital when he arrived, and our son and his wife were up to see him every single evening and help him with supper while his wife would be able to leave for the day.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137461)
• United States
13 Dec
Mom wouldn't use the alarm when she fell. She'd just lay where she fell until someone found her and helped her up again. Several times she fell in her front yard, crawled to the porch steps and sat waiting for someone to notice her. Finally, my oldest brother forced her into a home. Mom gave up and refused to walk... She said if she was in a care facility, then they could do everything for her... 
She always wanted us to take her out to eat with us but my brother said if she wouldn't walk, then she wasn't allowed to be taken away from the facility.
It was sad and I hated seeing her like that but agreed with my brother. Mom was too big for me to manhandle her into and out of her wheelchair and into my car...
She always wanted us to take her out to eat with us but my brother said if she wouldn't walk, then she wasn't allowed to be taken away from the facility.
It was sad and I hated seeing her like that but agreed with my brother. Mom was too big for me to manhandle her into and out of her wheelchair and into my car...1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137461)
• United States
14 Dec
@JudyEv "Stubborn" is a good way to say it... 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Dec
I'm pretty sure I lost my marbles many years ago! haha
My mom had dementia towards the end of her life, and it was sad and frustrating to see her in that state. I feel for people who reach that point in their life. It's got to be hard on them too.
1 person likes this
@aureategloom (11085)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
13 Dec
that is a sad story... and no, i haven't heard of that phrase.
in Bosnian, when someone's confused and say one thing instead of another, like mixed things up, we used to say he "broke/wrecked cups" - actually there is no word in English to describe the verb, but that was the closest one haha it makes no sense in Bosnian either, but it's just something we used to say 
but the cups are these things. is there a special word for these cups in English?
but the cups are these things. is there a special word for these cups in English? 1 person likes this
@aureategloom (11085)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
14 Dec
@JudyEv in Bosnian, we have different words for ceramic mugs and this material.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (47611)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
13 Dec
I don't know who keeps losing their marbles other than that one boy used in survey screeners... (A boy had 4 marble and lost one...)
I keep FINDING marbles... maybe that's why I'm so smart. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137552)
• India
14 Dec
That is a common phrase. Looks like the old still has some of her marbles
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (341742)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Dec
Yes, she still knows what's what - another wacky saying.
@RasmaSandra (80635)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
13 Dec
Those are always the toughest situations,
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (83062)
• United States
13 Dec
I'm very familiar with that phrase and could swear that I've lost some marbles myself 
I feel bad for that lady but I can understand her reluctance to leave her home knowing she'll probably not come back.
I feel bad for that lady but I can understand her reluctance to leave her home knowing she'll probably not come back.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (341742)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Dec
I think the results are about half and half at the moment. I thought more might have known it.
