loony

and looney and loonie

1. n. a crazy person. (From lunatic.) I’m beginning to feel like a loonie the longer I stay around here.

2. mod. crazy. That is a loony idea. Forget it.

3. mod. alcohol intoxicated. She’s acting a little loonie. Let’s get her home before she’s sick.

loony bin

n. an insane asylum; a mental hospital. Today’s loony bins are far different from those of just a few decades ago.

loony bin

Insane asylum. The word “lunatic” comes from the word for “moon”; madness was associated in many cultures with the effect of the phases of the moon on the human mind. From lunatic came loony, and loony bin was where insane people were incarcerated. The phrase is now considered insulting in the extreme, as are “booby hatch” (originally a covered passageway down a ship deck), “funny farm,” “drool academy,” and “foam rubber city” (a reference to padded cells).

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Dimitri	dee-MEE-tree (Russian)	Russian, French
Carolina	kah-ro-LEE-nah (Italian, Spanish), ka-roo-LEE-nə (Portuguese), ker-ə-LIEN-ə (English), kar-ə-LIEN-ə (English)	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Swedish
Shiro	shee-ṙo:	Japanese
Virginia	[və(:)'dʒinjə]
MadailÉIn	-	Irish
Marcell	-	Hungarian, German