Today we are going to learn an expression to talk about being trapped, even though that’s not a very cool feeling at all. 

stir-crazy

（因长期遭禁闭或禁止做某事）郁闷的，快疯了的

I did a little bit research on this expression, and I learned that it’s originally used to describe a psychological condition(心理疾病) that prisoners feel. If you stuck in a prison cell for a long time without any interaction with the outside world, you can go stir-crazy. I am not exactly sure of why we say ‘stir’ for stir-crazy. The first image that popped into my head is that a prisoner is walking in his cell, and you get that sort of rotation that kind of looks like a stiring image. Also, it could be related to boredom. When you have nothing to do, sometimes people do repetitive activities, like bouncing their legs, something like that.

Nowadays, we can use this expression to talk about our personal feelings when we are bored or when we feel that we’re being trapped at home for too long. 

EXAMPLE I

A: Dude, we’ve been playing video games now for like 5 hours. It’s such a nice day outside. Let’s go grab some fresh air.

B: Good call, man. I’m starting to go a little stir-crazy in here. 

A: Yeah, cool. Well, let’s go to the park and throw the ball around. 

B: Yeah, man. Let’s do it. 

In this example, we see two friends talk about how they go stir-crazy because they were sitting inside all day playing video games. 

EXAMPLE II

A: Hey, do you want to grab a beer after work?

B: I’d love to, but I got to right head home so I can take my dog for a walk. 

A: Oh, I didn’t know you had a dog.

B: Yeah, he’s awesome, but he goes a little stir-crazy staying at home all day. If I don’t give him some exercise, he’ll rip my house apart. 

In this example, two co-workers are talking about going to get a beer after work. One of the co-workers says he can’t go because he has a dog stuck in the house at home going stir-crazy.