toys in the attic

[nicoparre]

This is my first question... Hello!

With reference to Pink Floyd's song "the trial" by album "the wall".

In this song the refrain says: "crazy, toys in the attic" and after, "crazy, over the rainbow", can I understand it literally or they are idiomatic phrases like Italian "fuori di testa"?

In internet I've found different translation and i ask me what is correct...

Thank you, bye.

 

[wonderment]

Hi nicoparre and welcome!

You can quote up to four lines and link to the rest of the lyrics:

Toys in the attic, I am crazy.
Truly gone fishing.
They must have taken my marbles away.
(crazy. toys in the attic, he is crazy.)

In this context, “toys in the attic” is idiomatic for “crazy” (like fuori di testa/ “out of his mind” or “his elevator doesn’t go to the top floor”). I don’t know how the phrase originated but my guess is that you can understand it figuratively as “his mind (the attic) is filled only with an imaginary world (toys).”

Other frases in the lyrics that are also idioms for “crazy”:

Truly gone fishing (“he’s gone fishing” refers to someone who is not aware of what is going on around him)
They must have taken my marbles away (“one’s marbles” is informal for “one’s mind”)
Over the rainbow (refers to an imaginary world, like in the Wizard of Oz)
Bars in the window (of a mental institution)
​

Anyway, there are many colorful euphemisms in English for crazy/stupid, have a look here. Is there a similar list in Italian?

 

[nicoparre]

He he he, it's a very long list! Thanks for your reply Wonderment, the solution was like I supposed, well!

I don't know if a similar list exists in Italian, but I'm sure there are many euphemisms too.

In this moment I can remember these: FUORI DI TESTA, FUORI COME UN BALCONE, SENZA QUALCHE ROTELLA, FUORI DI ZUCCA, FUORI DI MELONE (where pumpkin or melon became similar oh head), ESSERE PARTITO, NON STARCI PIù CON LA TESTA, and some dialect form: TOCCO (in Veneto langauge, it seems guasto in italian (broken, damaged)), FUEA DE CAVESSA (fuori di testa in Genovese language).

Now I remember nothing else.

Goodbye!

 

[wonderment]

Thanks for the interesting examples, Nicoparre.

 

[nicoparre]

You are welcome, thanks you too..

 

[pepitah]

Riprendo questo thread per chiedere se anche l'espressione:
"I feel like the nutter in the attic" vuol dire "Mi sento il pazzo fuori di testa"

 

[london calling]

"I feel like the nutter in the attic" vuol dire "Mi sento il pazzo fuori di testa"

Sì, "nutter in the attic" direi che ha il significato di "il pazzo di turno" o simile.

I don't know where the expression comes from, but Jane Eyre comes to mind (remember Mr. Rochester's mad wife who was confined to the attic?).

Does anybody know?

 

[pepitah]

Sì, "nutter in the attic" direi che ha il significato di "il pazzo di turno" o simile.

I don't know where the expression comes from, but Jane Eyre comes to mind (remember Mr. Rochester's mad wife who was confined to the attic?).

Does anybody know?

Thank you very much. I remember very well Jane Eyre now! I love that novel. I should have remembered it before so I wouldn't have had any doubt. Thank you very much londoncalling.