midsummer moon
Preserved but no longer current.
" 'Tis midsummer moon with you"; you are stark mad. Madness was supposed to be affected by the moon, and to be aggravated by summer heat; so it naturally follows that the full moon at midsummer is the time when madness would be most outrageous.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “midsummer moon” mean?
" 'Tis midsummer moon with you"; you are stark mad. Madness was supposed to be affected by the moon, and to be aggravated by summer heat; so it naturally follows that the full moon at midsummer is the time when madness would be most outrageous.
Is “midsummer moon” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.