crazy, n.

[Joel S. Berson]

It would be hard for me, but the extension from "Of persons" to "Of
actions (also colloq. of things)" does exist in the OED for "insane,
adj. (and n.)" (sense 2), although its (current) quotations (1842,
1869) are both adjectival.

I suppose those who can refer to "The other" can also say "the crazy".

Joel

At 9/8/2012 01:44 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Articulate fiftyish woman on Book TV commenting on the fear of many
>veterans that PTSD means they're "crazy":
>
>"The crazy is expecting men and women to go to war [and not be affected].
>The crazy is [etc.]."
>
>This construction would be impossible for me. I'd have to say,
>"What's crazy is...." or "The crazy thing is...."
>
>JL

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