Willy Nilly?

Question

Where does the saying 'willy nilly' come from. My nan used to use it all the time and so does the rest of my family. Which words is it derived from.

Answer 1

I had no idea myself, so I had a little look around and found a very helpful answer at the link below. A pretty lengthy explanation for such a quirky little phrase. It's actually the original website transcription that the person above has copied and pasted from. Here's the link for you anyway.

Hope this helps! :)

Luke

Answer 2

Whether one likes it or not; haphazardly.
The original sense of this word (Willy-Nilly) appears at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when people used it to suggest that something must be done no matter whether one is willing or unwilling, whether one wants to or not. It’s a modified form of an older phrase that is variously expressed as will I, nill I or will ye, nill ye, or sometimes as nilling willing.

Will here is used in its sense of wanting to do something, to wish or desire that something should happen (when you make your will, you are using the same sense: you are expressing your wishes for the distribution of your goods after you die). Nill is very old, known before 1000 AD, but has long since vanished from the language. It was the opposite of will, so to nill is to want not to do something, to refuse or reject some course of action.

So will I, nill I can be expanded into “be I willing, be I unwilling”, combining the two sentiments with the implication that it doesn’t much matter what you feel. More recently, this conflict gave rise to an implication that a person was not sure whether to do something, and so suggested he was undecided or indecisive. Even more recently, the associated sense has grown up of embarking on some project without direction or planning or in a disorganised way.

There is an equivalent Latin phrase nolens volens, formed from two Latin participles that mean “unwilling, willing”. It is sometimes said that willy-nilly is actually a translation of the Latin phrase.

Answer 3

WILLY-NILLY
Whether one likes it or not; haphazardly.
The original sense of this odd word appears at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when people used it to suggest that something must be done no matter whether one is willing or unwilling, whether one wants to or not. It’s a modified form of an older phrase that is variously expressed as will I, nill I or will ye, nill ye, or sometimes as nilling willing.

Will here is used in its sense of wanting to do something, to wish or desire that something should happen (when you make your will, you are using the same sense: you are expressing your wishes for the distribution of your goods after you die). Nill is very old, known before the Norman Conquest, but has long since vanished from the language. It was the opposite of will, so to nill is to want not to do something, to refuse or reject some course of action.

So will I, nill I can be expanded into “be I willing, be I unwilling”, combining the two sentiments with the implication that it doesn’t much matter what you feel. More recently, this conflict gave rise to an implication that a person was not sure whether to do something, and so suggested he was undecided or indecisive. Even more recently, the associated sense has grown up of embarking on some project without direction or planning or in a disorganised way.

There is an equivalent Latin phrase nolens volens, formed from two Latin participles that mean “unwilling, willing”. It is sometimes said that willy-nilly is actually a translation of the Latin phrase. It may have been an influence, but it’s hard to tell.

Answer 4

now come on stop all that willy nilly behaviour you amadán is what my Irish teacher says to me everyday. I believe she said it came from a stupid man called Willy doing Nil work! Well that's what've been told anyway!!!

Answer 5

the phrase basically means: Will he or Won't he.

as has been said above the nilly came from nill he nill being not doing the sugested course of action

Answer 6

It comes from the out--of-use phrase "will he, nil he?" "Nil", here, means "to forgo" and is obviously a verb, as opposed to "nil" as a noun. The phrase is archaic English and was used as a musing over decisions.

Answer 7

Hmm... I don't know, but I would guess at cockney rhyming slang.