rat house
Australian slang for a psychiatric hospital or mental institution.
Definitions
Australian slang for a psychiatric hospital or mental institution. A blunt, derogatory term that reflects older stigmatising attitudes toward mental illness. Now considered offensive and outdated in contemporary usage, but still appears in historical texts and older Australian vernacular.
His mates joked that he had finally lost the plot and was headed for the rat house.
Comments
(AU, slang) A mental hospital.
Comments
Used in
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "rat house".
🇦🇺About Australian & NZ slang slang
Aussie and Kiwi vocabulary — bogan, daggy, brekkie, sheila, bach, jandals — the whole Antipodean lexicon, including outback dialect, surf and beach culture, and Sydney/Melbourne street slang.
See all Australian & NZ slang slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "rat house" (R)
Browse all slang words starting with R.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- go to ratshit69%
(slang, vulgar, Australia, New Zealand) Of a person, object, or situation that has deteriorated, failed, or become worthless.
- ratshit68%
(Australia, New Zealand, slang, vulgar) Of very poor quality, badly substandard, useless; damaged or broken; unwell, exhausted.
- ratshit67%
(Australia, slang, vulgar) Nonsense, bullshit.
- crazy as a shithouse rat67%
A vivid vulgar simile meaning thoroughly, hopelessly crazy. The image evokes the frantic, chaotic behaviour of a rat trapped in an outhouse. Used to emphasise extreme, unpredictable, or erratic behaviour. More colourful and emphatic than simply saying someone is 'crazy' — the phrase signals a complete absence of rational behaviour.