What it means
Used when someone seems to have gone a bit mad or started acting wildly irrational, like their brain took a funny little detour and never quite came back. It can be said with a grin, but also with a proper eye-roll when someone’s talking rubbish or making daft choices. Very British, a bit old-school, and still well alive.
Usage examples
"She’s gone round the bend, mate. Bought a £300 air fryer, banned carbs, and now she’s training for five marathons in five days down the rec with a Lucozade"
"These endless forms are driving me round the bend, I can't take much more."
"You’re seriously gonna remortgage the house for a hot tub and a garden bar? You’ve gone round the bend."
"Mum’s gone round the bend since she found that Facebook marketplace page. There’s a ceramic duck in every room now."
"He wants to quit his job, buy a narrowboat, and start selling candles on Instagram. Man's gone round the bend."
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Where it comes from
The bend may be a curve of road or river, but the likeliest root is the asylum: certain Victorian institutions sat at the end of a long bent, curving drive, kept well out of sight. To be sent round the bend was to be carted off there, and so to have lost your marbles.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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