If you ever heard the phrase "It’s like Bedlam in here", you may wonder what the expression really meant or where it came from. Is it a mystery to you? Here's the scoop.
If you look up Bedlam, most dictionary definitions include: Bedlam: ‘(fig) uproarious assembly, pandemonium. (adj) fit for a madhouse, resembling a madhouse’. However in the 1932 ‘The New Standard Encyclopaedia and world atlas’, published by Odhams press Ltd., it gives only the following definition:
Bedlam: "Popular name for Bethlem or Bethlehem Hospital. It was founded in London in 1247 as a religious house and went on to become a home for the insane, the first one in the country, in 1403. In 1676 it was moved from Bishopsgate to Moorefield and in 1815 to Lambeth. There it remained until 1930, when new buildings were erected at Monks Orchard, Beckenham….”
No mention of ‘pandemonium’ or ‘state of wild uproar and confusion’.
So how did ‘bedlam’ come to mean uproar and confusion?
It is most probable, and widely believed that over the years there has been a verbal corruption of Bethlehem to Bethlem to Bedlam. The word was used in the 1500s by William Tyndale.....
So how did ‘bedlam’ come to mean uproar and confusion?
It is most probable, and widely believed that over the years there has been a verbal corruption of Bethlehem to Bethlem to Bedlam. The word was used in the 1500s by William Tyndale.....
To read the full article click below
http://www.socyberty.com/History/The-Mystery-of-Bedlam-Revealed.260403
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