Bugalugs

In conversation with Byter Petra, I was asked to do an item on the origin of the term ”Bugalugs”.

It’s an expression I grew up with, always used in the context of playfully referring to someone else but without any nastiness towards that person.

* * * * * * * * *

According to the Urban Dictionary, the expression is an Australian term of endearment, similar to "Mate" but usually used in a slightly more patronising tone and with less immediate masculine connotations. A good example is a parent describing a son or daughter, or an older person describing a young person. The term is usually used playfully.

"G'day, John, you couldn't keep an eye on bugalugs over here while I get something out of my car, could you?"

Unfortunately I have not been able to find anything definitive about the origin of the word.

* * * * * * * * *

Some comments:

The Australian Oxford Dictionary dates it from the 19th century and says it is of unknown origin.

One commenter online has stated that: “Bugalugs is just a cute little rhyme usually when referring to mischievous children...possibly, but not always, said to children when they are caught listening to an adults conversation.”

Some English commenters have heard the term used in England as well: “It means nothing, it is just a term of endearment meaning something like "little scamp" or "little urchin" it is not an Australian saying, or at least not exclusive to Australia, my mother used to say it to me when I was young many years ago.”

* * * * * * * * *

Comments that the term is correctly “buggerlugs” and concerns sodomy are incorrect. I have heard the term used in any context with a meaning other than those described above.

Accordingly we can also reject the suggestion by one commenter online, perhaps tongue in cheek, that the word consists of two parts, bugger and lugs, the latter being a slang term for ears. That person suggests that the word buggerlugs therefore means ears of a size large enough to afford a good grip while being sodomised.

By the way:

The word “lugs” to mean “ears” dates from the 1620’s, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. It meant the "handle of a pitcher" and comes from “lugge” (Scottish) meaning "earflap of a cap, ear".

* * * * * * * * *

There are various Oz slang terms that use the word "bugger" but likewise also have no connection to sodomy.

A sample of such words follow, together with their meanings, to assist overseas visitors to Australia.

Bugger: 

1. Exclamation when something goes wrong, an expression of discontent. “I stepped in dog poo, Bugger!

2. A person or animal, often a small one, such as a child or small pet. Frequently prefaced by "little." Compare with Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s comment during the 1989 election campaign when a pensioner took him to task over tax cuts. Hawke muttered “silly old bugger” but later apologised. 

Bugger me: I am surprised.

Bugger me dead: I am extremely surprised.

Bugger off: Please leave.

Go to buggery: Please leave.

Bugger up: To make a mess of.

Bugger all: Nothing. Similar in meaning and usage to "fuck all", as in The Wog Boy:  "People say I know fuck nothing, but I know fuck all!"

* * * * * * * * *

Australian children’s book author Tim Winton has written a book called The Bugalugs Bum Thief.  According to the cover summary "One morning the 496 residents of the town of Bugalugs awake to find that all 496 have had their bums stolen. It’s up to Skeeta Anderson to investigate."

There is also a wine by that name:

and a children's clothing range:

* * * * * * * * * * *

More Google Earth Finds

Continuing the strange, interesting and sometimes bizarre discovered by people on Google Earth . . .

-----oOo-----

The above pentagram can be found in Kazakhstan, is 366 metres/1,200 feet in diameter and is the outline of a park made in the form of a star. Whether the park is used for devil worship and sabbats is unknown (joke).

A massive face of Jesus in Hungary.

There is no explanation for this large plane among trees in Brooklyn.

The fronds of Palm Island in Dubai.

A field in Piedmont in Italy contains a giant knitted rabbit. The pink rabbit was knitted by Gelitin, the Viennese art collective, as an outdoor sculpture for people to climb on, sleep on, and generally play with. It is made of soft, waterproof, materials and is stuffed with straw. Gelatin say it was "knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool".

Another view of the bunny, not a GE view:

This has been previously featured in Bytes. It is a naval base in California. Did not anyone, on viewing the plans, think to say "Hey guys, you know what this looks like?...”

Why is there a car on the side of the wall in this building in Westenbergstraat, Netherlands?

A native American listening to an iPod, or just mountainous terrain? It’s in Alberta, Canada

Another previously posted pic. This heart-shaped island in the Adriatic became a hit on Google Earth for Valentine's Day. The uninhabited island is only 130,000 square yards and is called Galesnjak. The owner didn't even know how perfectly this island off the Croatian coast was until he was swamped with requests from couples to stay there. 

Rhett Dashwood, a graphic designer from Australia, created the first Google Maps alphabet, featuring all 26 letters, using satellite images of natural features and buildings.

Google Earth numbers and punctuation, using only locations in The Netherlands, by Thomas de Bruin. 

Another alphabet, this one also by Thomas de Bruin using only images from his native Netherlands.

-----oOo-----

Occasionally Google earth gets it wrong. The software supporting it apparently every now and then has some glitch that causes 3D images to be distorted. You can see a collection at:

http://designtaxi.com/news/34214/Using-Google-Earth-Artist-Finds-Surreal-Landscapes/

Here are some:

* * * * * * * * * * *

Readers Write

Some email responses from readers this week. They have given me the okay to print them . . .

* * * * *

Byter Doug took me to task for saying in the 11 November post that Fraser’s blocking of supply (that is, blocking money bills, which means blocking money for the Government to function) was a bit like what happened to Obama in the US recently.

Here is Doug’s email:

Hi Otto,

Very interesting Bytes as always. I hope that you don't mind a different perspective on one of the points that you made in your [post].

You made a comment that what the Republican-run House of Representatives did by threatening to block the debt limit increase is similar to the Liberals blocking supply in 1972. It's actually a bit different for several reasons.

First, threatening to block the debt limit increase is a traditional tactic employed when the party who controls Congress does not control the presidency. For example, when Obama was a senator and a Republican was president, he voted against a debt limit increase, decrying the effect of debt upon the country, etc. I'll post part of his comments below:

'The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.'

Read more at

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/debtlimit.asp#VuzIixvIKy8iCYJh.99

It's also not unusual for Congress to place conditions on funding. It's just a negotiation strategy that has been run many times before (and will probably happen many times again). In contrast, blocking supply has much more significant consequences. Although I'm not too familiar with political activity in Australia prior to 1989 (when I moved here), I think that this was the only example of the federal government supply being blocked. In contrast to the US political strategies, I don't think Oppositions even threaten to block supply anymore.

Second, Congress in the US is responsible for the budget, not the president. The president may approve or veto the budget, but he doesn't actually specify what the budget should be. For the House to put conditions on how the budget should be organised is within their scope of responsibility. That's what they do. Of course, since the Democrats control the Senate and the Republicans control the House, it's a bit more complicated than if the same party controls them both. However, this is pretty routine.

Putting the politics to one side, the rollout of Obamacare has been an utter disaster. I think it would have been in Obama's interest to actually have agreed to the Republican's demand for a year's delay. That would have given the team another year to fix it and the Republicans would have been deprived of their talking points about how bad Obamacare is. By absolutely refusing to negotiate about the debt limit increase, Obama caused himself much more trouble than he would have otherwise experienced.

Regards,

Doug

Thanks Doug, it is clear now that I should have prefaced my comment about blocking of supply being like the Obama matter with the word "not".

* * * * *

There were two emails on the apeshit/batshit post. There’s a message there somewhere, that I get emails on the topic of shit but hardly ever on much weightier topics. It reminds me of the following joke:

A guy was seated next to a 10-year-old girl on an airplane. Being bored, he turned to the girl and said, "Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger." 

The girl, who was reading a book, closed it slowly and said to the guy, "What would you like to talk about?" 

Oh, I don't know," said the guy. "How about nuclear power?" 

"OK," she said. "That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow and a deer all eat the same stuff... grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?" 

The guy thought about it and said, "Hmmm, I have no idea." 

To which the girl replied, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?"

Byters Brett and Lapun Pinis do, however, know their shit.

Here is Brett’s email:

The phrase "going ape" being used on Air Force bases in the 1950s gains credence when you know that, at that time, security personnel were called Air Police, abbreviated AP, and pronounced 'ape'; members were called apes, and were not known for their gentleness. Now they are Security Police, or SPs.

This is Lapun’s email:

Replying to your comments “Crazy, Baby”: 

1. Having been the recipient of an Ape at Taronga Park* throwing faeces at me, when I and a friend were laughing at a silly joke, I am certain you have no further to look for the origin of this phrase. 

2. Having moved back to Mission Beach, Far North Queensland, and having spent last weekend in Cairns in a mango tree lined street, I also have little doubt about the origin of the much more recent phrase “bat-shit”. Anyone who has walked under these trees when the fruit bats are feeding, or who has sat on a park bench without first checking it out, will know that the bat faeces is truly evil, being both profuse and a vile black colour that stains clothes, timber, concrete and anything else you care to mention. Also borne out by my knowledge from living in Papua New Guinea for 37 years! 

Lapun Pinis  

“My ‘nom-de-plume’ - Lapun Pinis – is frequently used in blogs etc., is known to many in PNG and is more recognisable than my birth name.” 

* Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney 

Thanks for the comments and feedback, guys.

Also to Arthur, who sends a daily acknowledgment.

* * * * * * * * * * *

University designs . . .

"I declare this thing open, whatever it is."

Prince Phillip (1921 - ), on opening the new east wing of Vancouver City Hall in 1970.

* * * * *

No 2 son, Elliot, is a student at the University of Technology Sydney. 

For those Byters not from Sydney, the UTS building is probably the ugliest building in Sydney. 

It has always struck me as bizarre that a university that teaches, inter alia, building design should be housed in a building that lacks any aesthetic qualities, a point often made by me to No 2 son. 

Why am I telling you this?

Because as I drive into and out of the city I have to drive past the new UTS building, the Broadway Building, being built in front of the ugly old one. It is another bizarre structure, as is another new UTS building that is currently being built, Dr Chau Chak Wing Building. No 2 son defends the newer designs and talks about the vision and bold concepts but I can’t see it.

Knowing that Byters are a sophisticated and intelligent lot (to paraphrase the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, you must be otherwise you wouldn’t be here), I place the matter before you . . .

* * * * *

The Broadway Building

From the UTS website:

Angled, semi-transparent “binary screens” envelop the winning proposal for the Broadway Building. The screens provide the building with a dramatic urban presence. They are made of aluminium sheets perforated with binary code, the series of “1s” and “0s” that underpins computer programming language. The building is also known as the Information Technology and Engineering (ITE) Building. Reflecting the final tenant of the building, the binary code reads ‘University of Technology, Sydney Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. 

The architect’s design concept positions the new building as a single, sculptural object in the city. “Gills” creased into the aluminium plates of the binary screen punctuate the façade and symbolically reinforce the building as a living, breathing structure. A crevasse-like pedestrian atrium runs through the heart of the building, both horizontally and vertically. It will connect the local neighbourhood to the UTS education precinct.

* * * * *

Some pics:

* * * * *

The binary coding of the façade translates to 'University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology'.

* * * * *

Despite its cleverness and boldness, it doesn’t do it for me. To me it still looks some slasher took to it with a knife or scalpel. The building sends out a vibe of violence and mental disturbance.

What do others think?

* * * * *

Just to show that ugly UTS buildings are not the exception, here is the third limb of the trifecta:

Dr Chau Chak Wing Building

From the UTS website:

A key component of UTS’s City Campus Master Plan, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building will provide teaching, learning, research and office accommodation for the UTS Business School, a manifestation of the creative thinking that underpins the teaching and research undertaken by the faculty and, more broadly, the university. There will be extensive public spaces in the new building, including student lounges, cafes and outdoor roof terraces. 

The building will have two distinct external facades, one composed of undulating brick, referencing the sandstone and the dignity of Sydney’s urban brick heritage, and the other of large, angled sheets of glass to fracture and mirror the image of surrounding buildings. 

The building is named for Australian-Chinese businessman and philanthropist Dr Chau Chak Wing, who donated $20 million to the project, alongside an additional $5 million for Australia-China scholarships. 

Frank Gehry imagined a building that was a cluster of “tree houses,” or vertical stacks of office floors with spatial “cracks” in between. 

In the architect's words: 

Frank Gehry imagined a building that was a cluster of “tree houses,” or vertical stacks of office floors with spatial “cracks” in between. 

"Each of the larger lower floors is divided into six floor segments. The building façade folds in between these elements bringing natural daylight deep into the center of the floors." 

"The façade of the building will have two aspects and two different personalities. The east facing façade that contains an entry from the UPN is made of a buff colored brick similar in colour to the Sydney Sandstone. The form of this façade curves and folds like soft fabric. The brick will be set in horizontal courses and will step or corbel to create the shape. The texture of the surface will be rough and will emphasize the mass of the material. The shape flattens as it wraps around the north and south corners. Large windows punch this façade."

"The west facing façade that contains the ground level entry off Ultimo Road is composed of large shards of glass façade. This glass will be slightly reflective to fracture and mirror the image of the surrounding buildings of the neighbourhood. Sculptural brick towers will stand at the northwest and southwest corners of this façade." 

"The ground floor of the building will have a café with seated dining that opens to additional outdoor tables on the sidewalk and proposed plaza to the north. A coffee bar with outdoor seating will animate the upper level entry off the UPN, conveniently adjacent to the student center and the large student lounge. Connected via a staircase to the student lounge will be a more secluded graduate student lounge one level above." 

"The teaching and learning spaces, which are accessibly located on the lower four levels of the building, are comprised of various classroom types primarily serving postgraduate students. There are 10 graduate seminar rooms of 40 seats with flat floors to allow for flexibility in seating arrangement, a 120-seat bowl classroom with desk seating and loose chairs on the first floor, four flat floor graduate computer labs for 40 students each, and two oval classrooms for 60."

* * * * *

Some pics:

* * * * *

I thought that it was a practical joke when I first saw the pics of the proposed building. This goes beyond ugly and ridiculous.

It has been variously described as “a microwaved chocolate castle”, “squashed plasticene”, “a crumpled brown bag”.

According to Alan Davies of The Urbanist:

Of course there’s always been a tradition of innovation in architecture – “the shock of the new” and all that. The trouble is I don’t think of this design as innovative. It’s more about wanting to be “different” for the sake of it. And I don’t think it’s a complete success on that score anyway. 

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/03/21/is-architecture-mostly-about-marketing/

* * * * *

This one doesn’t fit the mould, however. . . 

It’s another UTS building, also under construction.  This one is under construction in nearby Thomas Street:

* * * * *

“You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn’t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble.” 

- Prince Charles, 

speech at the Mansion House denouncing plans to rebuild Paternoster Square beside St Paul's Cathedral, December 11 1987.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Funny Friday

Following on from yesterday’s item about going apeshit (some reader comments this weekend on that, by the way), I wanted to post some monkey related jokes today but the only ones that I could come up with that raise a good laugh have all been previously posted on Bytes. Then it hit me (old joke: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.): I was enjoying reading those same jokes again so no doubt others would as well. There is no unwritten law of the universe that thou shalt tell a joke only once. Enjoy the following, even if you have heard them before . . .

* * * *

A guy walks into a bar with his pet monkey. He orders a drink and while he's drinking the monkey jumps all around the place. The monkey grabs some olives off the bar and eats them, then grabs some sliced limes and eats them, then jumps onto the pool table, grabs one of the billiard balls, sticks it in his mouth, and to everyone's amazement, somehow swallows it whole.

The bartender screams at the guy, "Did you see what your monkey just did?" The guy says "No, what?" "He just ate the cue ball off my pool table ... whole!" 

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replied the guy, "He eats everything in sight, the little bugger. Sorry. I'll pay for the cue ball and stuff".

He finishes his drink, pays his bill, pays for the stuff the monkey ate, then leaves.

Two weeks later he's in the bar again, and has his monkey with him.

He orders a drink and the monkey starts running around the bar again. While the man is finishing his drink, the monkey finds a cherry on the bar. He grabs it, sticks it up his bum, pulls it out, and eats it.

The bartender is disgusted.

"Did you see what your monkey did now?" "No, what?" replies the guy. "Well, he stuck a cherry up his bum, pulled it out, and ate it!" said the bartender.

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me", replied the guy. "He still eats everything in sight, but ever since the cue ball incident, he measures everything first."

* * * * *

This is better told, rather than written, in that telling allows a Northern English accent to be used. I have written some of the words phonetically to preserve that feature...

A man takes his young son to the London Zoo to see the monkeys.

Alas, when they get to the monkey enclosure, there is not a monkey to be seen, so he calls over the attendant and asks”

“’Ere, where’s all the moonkeys then?”

“They’re all in the ‘uts,” says the keeper. “It’s the matin’ season, they’re all ‘avin’ sex.”

“Do you think they’d come out if I threw a peanut?” asks the father.

“Would you?” asks the keeper

* * * * *

Breaking News: 

Archaeologists digging at the site of Shakespeare's house have uncovered thousands of monkey skeletons.

* * * * *

A woman got on a bus holding a baby.

"Blimey," the bus driver said, "that's the ugliest baby I've ever seen."

In a huff, the woman slammed her fare into the fare box and took an aisle seat near the rear of the bus. The man seated next to her sensed that she was agitated and asked her what was wrong.

"The bus driver insulted me!" she fumed.

The man sympathised and said, "He's a public servant! He shouldn't say things to insult passengers."

"You're right!" she said. "I think I'll go back up there and give him a piece of my mind."

"That's a good idea," the man agreed. "Here, let me hold your monkey."

* * * * *

Someone just called my mate an ape.

I took offense because he's my prime mate.

* * * * *

This item is essentially visual, hence difficult to tell in written format . . 

A busload of footballers celebrating their end of season crashed, killing all on board. The only survivor was a chimpanzee.

At the coroner’s inquest, the police sergeant assisting said “Your Honour, we’ve had some difficulty working out exactly what happened, the only survivor was a chimpanzee, the club’s mascot. It seems pretty intelligent. I suggest we call the chimpanzee and ask it a few questions.”

Well, that’s most unusual,” said the Magistrate, “but if you think it will help, “I’ll allow it.”

The chimpanzee is called and takes a seat.

The sergeant says “Can you understand me?”

The chimpanzee nods its head up and down.

“What were the footballers doing?”

The chimpanzee raises an imaginary glass to hsi lips, head tipped back, and pretends to drink.

“They were drinking alcohol?”

The chimpanzee nods yes again.

“Were the footballers doing anything else?”

The chimpanzee nods yes and pushes the plunger on an imaginary syringe into his arm He also pretends to inhale from an imaginary cigarette held between thumb and forefinger.

“They were taking drugs?”

The chimpanzee nods yes.

“Was there anyone else on the bus?”

The chimpanzee nods yes and uses his hands to outline a curvy figure.

“There were women on the bus?”

Yes.

“What were they doing?”

The chimpanzee makes a circle with thumb and forefinger, then pushes the forefinger of his other hand in and out of the circle.

“The women were having sex with the footballers?”

The chimpanzee nods yes again.

“And what were you doing while all this was going on?”

The chimpanzee strains to look at the back of the bus over his left shoulder as he holds an imaginary steering wheel.

* * * * *

London Zoo acquires, at great expense, a very large female gorilla of a particularly rare species. Right from the outset she is very bad tempered and very difficult to handle. The zoo's vet, after examination, boldly announces that her problem is that she's in heat. If she was to be mated she would become docile and adjust to her new surroundings. But what to do? There are no males of her species available and the other male gorillas are terrified of her.

The zoo administrators remember that one of their zoo-keepers, an Irishman called O'Reilly, who is responsible for cleaning animals' cages, is a large man and notorious for his abilities with the opposite sex. Perhaps they could persuade him to placate the gorilla. 

So they approach O'Reilly with a proposition: would he be willing to have sex with the gorilla for five hundred pounds?

O'Reilly asks for the night to think things over and on the following day, says that he'll accept the offer on three conditions: "First, dere's to be no kissin’. Second, if dere’s any children, dey have to be raised Roman Cat'lic."

The zoo administrators quickly agree to these conditions. "But what about the third?" they ask.

"Well," says O'Reilly, "You've got to give me some time to come up wit' de five hundred quid...."

* * * * *

This last item is an illustration of a truth, rather than a joke, but it’s still pretty funny and worth inclusion:

How To Create Bureaucracy, Policy, And Procedures 

1. Start with a cage containing five apes. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, an ape will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the Banana. 

2. As soon as the ape touches the stairs, spray all of the apes with cold water. After a while, another ape makes an attempt with the same result-all the apes are sprayed with cold water. 

3. Turn off the cold water. If, later, another ape tries to climb the stairs, the other apes will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them. 

4. Now, remove one ape from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new ape sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other apes attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted. 

5. Next, remove another of the original five apes and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. 

6. Again, replace a third original ape with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four apes that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest ape. 

7. After replacing the fourth and fifth original apes, all the apes which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. 

Nevertheless, no ape ever again approaches the stairs. Why not? 

"BECAUSE that's the way it's always been done around here." 

* * * * * * * * * *

Limerick Spot

There was a young lady named Gloria

Who was had by Sir Gerald du Maurier,

Then by ten men,

Sir Gerald again

And the band at the Waldorf Astoria

* * * * * * * * * * *

Crazy, Baby

When driving home with No 1 son last week and discussing the views of Christopher Hitchens, No 1 son used the expression “go batshit” to describe the reactions of some church groups towards Hitchens' views. It started me thinking about the origin of the expression, as well as of the related expression “go apeshit”. Was it related to the belief that disturbed monkeys and apes throw faeces? If so, then what do bats do?

Some comments:

* * * * *

The Oxford English Dictionary lists “to go apeshit” as being a variant of “to go ape”, an expression meaning extreme anger, rage or disturbed behaviour, to lose control, to go crazy, much like the behaviour of enraged and disturbed monkeys and apes. 

* * * * *

The earliest citation dates from 1955 where it has been identified as Air Force slang. It is likely that the expression was in use at Air Force bases, and possibly Marine bases, in the early 1950’s. 

US Flying Magazine in November 1954 records that the term “go ape-sweat” was in use at a US base in Greenland and meant “a guy has snapped his cap for some reason or other, usually because he got bad news from the girl friend.” It may very well be that the term “ape-sweat” was a printed substitute “for ape-shit”.

* * * * *

It has been suggested that the addition of the word “shit” to the phrase “to go ape” acts as an instensifier, as with words such as chickenshit, bullshit, horseshit and dipshit.

* * * * *

Which brings us to “batshit”.

Here again the Oxford English Dictionary provides assistance as to its origins, meanings and earliest recorded usages, with Australia also getting a guernsey: 

A worthless or contemptible thing; rubbish, nonsense. Cf. bullshit n. (1950 M. Shedd Return to Beach ii. 156: "I felt the minute hand of that bat shit of a Judas clock stand up to me.")  

Austral. Used in similative phrases as the type of something dull or uninteresting. Chiefly in boring as batshit. (1964 G. H. Johnston My Brother Jack iv. 58: "He would describe somebody as being ‘as silly as a two-bob watch’ or ‘dreary as bat-shit’.")  

Crazy, mad, insane. Cf. bats at bat *n*. 1 b. Orig. and freq. in to go batshit (cf. to go ape-shit atape n. Additions). (1971 W. Calley Lieutenant Calley 104: "Most of America's males were in Korea or World War II or I. They killed, and they aren't all going batshit.") 

As an intensifier, esp. in batshit crazy. (1993 Toronto Life Aug. 6/4: "His mug is emblazoned with the words: full-blown bat shit crazy.") 

* * * * *

The association of “bats” and “batty” with insanity dates from the beginning of the 1900’s by reason of the phrase “bats in the belfry”. 

The term “batshit” appears to have originated about the same time and in the same circumstances as “apeshit” but at that time it meant nonsense, bullshit.  

From the 1970’s it came to mean insane and gave an overlap with “apeshit”; from the 1980’s the term “apeshit crazy” came into use.

* * * * * * * * * * *