loony bin

Maybe he was someone’s relative who had just gotten out of the loony bin.

In common parlance, the film was described as being about an “insane asylum” or a “loony bin” filled with people who were “crazy” or “nuts.”

What was once a ticket to the political loony bin has leaped off Hollywood screens and out of science-fiction novels and into the national conversation.

Dear Amy: "I'm No Loony" reported that her folks laughed about her grandfather's post-WWII service guarding a military mental hospital, calling it a "loony bin."

In what was framed as a funny anecdote, my parents and aunt repeatedly talked about my grandfather's time guarding the "loony bin."