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Along Life’s Way
Hinges and Unhinged
By Lois E. Wilson
Recently, there have been a lot of references to people being
“unhinged.” The term has been used in book and music album titles. This
fascinated me. I began researching to see when “unhinged” began meaning
“crazy” or “mentally unbalanced.” It was not in my slang dictionary
published in 1986.
The King James Version of the Bible was published in 1611. A
concordance cites two references to “hinges.” Solomon was following the
Lord’s regulations in building his temple:” (1Kings 7:50, AV) …”and the
hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy
place, and for the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple.”
(Proverbs 26:14, AV) “As a door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the
slothful upon his bed.” This is a criticism of the lazy
using excuses to avoid facing situations.
Below are items from an etymology exploration by the “Oxford English Dictionary:”
“I might by my loose and unhing’d Circumstances be the fitter to
embrace a Proposal for Trade.” 1719, Farther Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe, Daniel Defoe.
“The wisest and best Poets do love sometimes to play the fool, and to
leap out of the hindges” (sic).—1608 Of Wisdom, S. Lennard.
The two quotes above suggest a state where one is unhinged. A hinged
lid, door, or gate is supported and fastened to a structure. A person
hinged to something would also be “attached” to it. That could be worse
than a ball and chain.
The unhinged state of Defoe and Lennard is freedom. While freedom sets
the creative process loose, it can also result in chaos if not used
wisely. People have often ridiculed those who see beyond our scope of
understanding to solve problems. Some of them have been labeled “crazy”
or “mentally unbalanced.”
I wish “unhinged” had not been adopted by those who believe it suggests
unstableness. I will continue to applaud those who seek freedom so that
they can explore new solutions to old problems. Who knows? We might all
benefit from their being “unhinged.”
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