"Willy-Nilly" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2021-05-09

0:00 - How to Say, “Willy-nilly.”
0:15 - Examples of “Willy-nilly.”
1:03 - Meaning of “Willy-nilly.”
1:14 - Origin of “Willy-nilly.”
3:30 - More Examples of “Willy-nilly.”
4:04 - Conclusion

“Willy-nilly.”

If you say that something is “willy-nilly”, you mean that it is disorganized, disorderly, chaotic.

“There are empty boxes willy-nilly everywhere, it’s no wonder there’s no space in this house,” you might be nagging your husband.

Maybe you’re chatting with a friend, “My kids just willy-nilly put their toys anywhere after playing, it’s driving me nuts!”

“Don’t just choose high school classes willy-nilly, you need to choose a university major first and then work backwards according to its requirements,” your parents might be guiding you.

As you can see, if something is “willy-nilly”, it is unplanned, random, haphazard.

The idiom, “willy-nilly”, originally meant “whether you want it or did not want it”; “nill”, was originally a contraction of “not will”.

The original idea of “this way, then that way”, has resulted in “willy-nilly” coming to mean “in a careless, arbitrary manner”, which is how we exclusively use it today…

… online, however, you will find many dictionaries, websites and translation apps assigning the first, outdated meaning to “willy-nilly”.

Cultures all around the world have their own idioms to describe situations or people that are willy-nilly; such as in Turkish, where it is “roasted confusion.”

Since the Japanese love seafood, it’s natural that they would say such a situation is “out of a cod’s eye”.

In Chinese, they’ll call it “a pot of congee”, because rice porridge features random ingredients added to it, based on cooking preference.

Spanish speakers will straightforwardly say that things were “done without thinking”.

“Don’t go through life willy-nilly; you should sit down, think about what you want, write down your goals and plan,” your dad might be giving you life advice.

Perhaps you’re visiting a museum, “These exhibits are placed willy-nilly all over the place, they don’t seem to be organized in any way!”

“Life can feel willy-nilly at times, you may suffer setbacks - the secret is not to let anything stop you,” your mom might say to soothe you.

So, the next time something is chaotic, slapdash, slipshod, “a hot mess” or “a shit show”, just call it “willy-nilly”.

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References: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/willy-nilly.html

https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2020/11/willy-nilly.html