Etymology

the lunatics have taken over the asylum

Today it means: Said of a situation in which those in charge are incapable of handling their responsibilities, and should rather be put under scrutiny themselves. Full definition →

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The story

Said to originate in a 1919 remark by Richard A. Rowland about the founding of United Artists. Perhaps an allusion to the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, first published 1845.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.