Lost his marbles?

[dina]

Test No. incompl/inter-62 "Losing It (2)", question 2

There's no hope for him now because he's lost his ......... and has gone completely crazy.

(a) glasses
(b) stones
(c) jewels
(d) marbles

Test No. incompl/inter-62 "Losing It (2)", answer 2

There's no hope for him now because he's lost his marbles and has gone completely crazy.

Correct answer: (d) marbles

Your answer was: incorrect
There's no hope for him now because he's lost his jewels and has gone completely crazy.
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There's no hope for him now because he's lost his marbles and has gone completely crazy.

whats the meaning of lost his marbles, why marbles?
thanks

[Torsten]

If you lose your marbles you go crazy, you lose your mind.
It's an idiom.

TOEIC listening, talks: A voice mail message from an attorney

[Kati Svaby]

Hello,

This idiom is very strange; I would be curious its etymology. How can I lose my marble ? I never thought that I have marble and so I can lose it.
But its meaning is very useful because I feel more than once that I lose my marble.
Kati Svaby

[Beeesneees]

The origin of the expression "lose your marbles" seems to be unclear. The Internet has some interesting discussions about this idiom but the conclusion seems to be: "It's more likely that 'marbles' was coined as a slang term meaning 'wits/common sense' for no particular reason."
Here are some points of reference, because I know you like to practise by reading English, Kati.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/lose-your-marbles.html
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-los1.htm
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Cheers m' dears!

[Kati Svaby]

Many thanks Bz, It was interesting to read it. This Pataki who is mentioned in the first article is Hungarian.
Kati

[Kati Svaby]

Sorry, Pataki is mentioned in the second. Kati