Talk:one's marbles

one&
Defn is "one's sanity". This is just one's + marbles, ain't it? --AM a FEW (talk) 21:34, 11 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Yeah, got it at . Delete. Equinox ◑ 21:38, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * We have this as a redirect target for all the expressions like lose one's marbles, have one's marbles, have all one's marbles. Take a look as what links to it. I'd favor keeping it rather than including every embodiment of the mental-faculties-are-marbles metaphor. DCDuring TALK 22:05, 11 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Why not just link to ? Would people really get mixed up over glass toy spheres? Equinox ◑ 22:07, 11 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Why have "sanity" as a def of "marbles"? Is it ever used outside the phrase "one's marbles" (his marbles, etc and perhaps even Johhny's marbles, etc)? Could I say "marbles are an easy thing to lose in an asylum"? - -sche (discuss) 22:14, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't think anything other than a pronoun referring to the subject of one of the limited number of verbs can work with this. It is a dying, if not quite dead, metaphor. I don't think you can use any verbs other than [have], [lose]], and got, though quantification of marbles is possible with all, some, one-by-one, last, few. DCDuring TALK 22:54, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * @-sche, fair point but for clarity it might be better not to split the entries, but use a context tag such as . Mglovesfun (talk) 11:23, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Kept for lack of consensus to delete. bd2412 T 19:47, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

etymology
https://grammarist.com/idiom/lose-ones-marbles/

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/lose-your-marbles.html

https://www.etymonline.com/word/marbles --Espoo (talk) 09:12, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

RFM discussion: December 2022

 * See Talk:marbles.