Insane

[davemarc]

Eric notes that at one point Mason thinks of Maskelyne as  "a dangerously
insane person."  I've been mulling over P's use of the word "insane"
throughout M&D.  It strikes me that he uses it in a slightly offbeat way,
though I suppose it might not've been so unusual back in 1763 or so.  Not
sure about that--wasn't there at the time.  If that's not the case, it
might be a little joke--to use "insane" instead of that Yiddish m-word or
the more modern "crazy," not meaning clinically insane but outta whack
instead.  Know what I'm sayin'?

davemarc