"Delirious"

       I re-read the word today in a previous post, June 16, 2014, in a poem I cited by Marjorie Agosin, and I recalled getting into it in my book of essays Homewords:

       "Delirious" is one of the words characterized by "frenzied excitement."  We're dealing here with Latin and with imagery from the realm of farming.  Someone "delirious" has "left the furrow" (in plowing), and is therefore crazy-- de "off" or "away from," plus lira "furrow."

       Using some other suggestive lingo, to be "delirious" is akin to being "out of your gourd" or "off your rocker," that is, dizzily out of control.