 And it began as an expression in the American military from World War I. It referred to soldiers who had lost both arms and legs and had to be carried in a basket. And in fact, the Surgeon General of the US Army cemented the term when he used it in a bulletin in 1919 to refer to people as basket cases. It later became used to refer to people who'd suffered mental incapacities. A person who's known as an artful dodger is someone who gets away with things.