the.com/marbles
tiny glass planets that turned playground dirt into high-stakes empires of childhood greed
means Small spheres of glass, clay, or stone used in children's games — and, figuratively, one's sanity or wits, as in 'losing your marbles.'
from From Old French 'marbre' and ultimately Latin 'marmor,' the word for marble stone — the same gleaming rock that built temples and tombs. The little toy spheres were originally made from actual marble and other stone, so they borrowed the name. The 'lose your marbles' sense for losing one's mind is a 20th-century American slang turn; one popular story links it to a Greek immigrant's mangled 'marvels,' but that's almost certainly folk invention — more likely the marbles simply stood, jokingly, for one's mental faculties, precious little things easily scattered and lost.
- losing them
- phrase means going insane since the 1880s
- made of
- glass, clay, steel, or actual marble stone
- world champs
- England hosts an annual marbles championship since 1932
- ancient game
- played with nuts and stones in Roman times
- machine origin
- a German glassblower invented marble scissors in 1846
world marble championship — annual tournament in tinsley green, west sussex, england since 1932
ming dynasty glass marbles — ornamental marbles found in beijing imperial palace collections, 1400s-1600s
parthenon marbles — sculptures from the parthenon, held in british museum, athens disputes ownership since 1816