Got the willies

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 20, 2009 at 08:22

In Reply to: Got the willies posted by Victoria S Dennis on September 20, 2009 at 07:35:

: : got the willies. In the ballet Giselle, a peasant girl seeks to protect her lover from avenging spirits called the wilis. From German for ghosts.

: Can you give any evidence for that? I'm doubtful, because (a) Wili (or Vilja, or Vila - it's Slavonic, not German: en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Slavic_fairies#Vilia) is pronounced with a v- sound, not a w- sound, and (b) because ballet has always been such a minority interest in English-speaking countries. The Collins Dictionary of Slang notes the English dialect word "willy-wambles" for a rumbling tummy, as a possible origin. (VSD)

I agree entirely with Victoria's opinion. The OED regards the etymology as unknown, and considers it to have originated as American slang.

The willies, that is, a state of nervous apprehension, does not suggest, to me at least, ghosts, or fairies, or evil female spirits that lure young men to their deaths by dancing. For the last-named, see the wikipedia article on Giselle:

en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Giselle

If this whets your interest in Giselle, you might like to take a look at some excerpts of it, from various outstanding performances which in my grumpy opinion succeed in making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. See:

www.youtube.com

• Got the willies Sheila Collins 07/October/09

See: the meaning and origin of the phrase "you can't make silk purse out of a sow's ear".