A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address
An equivalent of ‘you idiot’, used to a person who is acting foolishly. The word derives from Latin luna, ‘moon’ and reflects the ancient belief that insane behaviour was dependent on changes in the moon. It is a word used by laymen, but strenuously avoided by anyone professionally connected with the mentally ill.
‘You bloody lunatic’ is used insultingly in The Limits of Love, by Frederic Raphael. Such an expression also occurs on public highways, as motorists express their opinion of other people’s driving. ‘Depraved lunatic’, used by a schoolmaster, occurs in Dandelion Days, by Henry Williamson. ‘You lunatic’, spoken in the right tone of voice, can easily become a covert endearment, tacitly expressing approval of someone’s foolish behaviour. In Girls in their Married Bliss, by Edna O’Brien, where one woman says to another who is on her knees, praying: ‘Get up, you lunatic,’ it is a term of friendly exasperation.
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