BELFRY, CATS ON THE

a coined variation of the phrase bats in the belfry, meaning crazy, insane, eccentric. Bats is a slang term meaning nuts, crazy, and belfry refers to the head, regarded as the seat of intelligence or insanity. This phrase alludes to the bats often found flying around crazily in a church belfry (that part of the church tower in which bells are hung).