batshit crazy

The adjective 'batshit' (almost invariably premodifying the noun 'crazy') derives from the fact that the guano of certain bat species, when smoked, vaporises as a potently psychotropic narcotic. The word entered the popular consciousness after one of several dozen guano collectors dropped his torch, igniting the batshit (which, as a fertiliser, is flammable) swathing every surrounding surface. The fire spread rapidly, but all the workers managed to flee in time - having, however, inhaled a considerable quantity of the smoke. The resulting deranged rampage made the international news, and "bat-shit crazy" was used in the New York Times headline. This coinage by the relevant subeditor seeded the general currency of the term, consolidated by a brief outbreak of the use of guano as a recreational drug, before even the most hardcore druggies concluded that it was just too batshit crazy.

New York Times: "ORGIASTIC FRENZY AS GUANO WILD-FIRE DRIVES WORKERS BATSHIT CRAZY"

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