#931 Word Willies

Words are like balls. Billiard balls to be exact. It doesn’t take much to send them careening off willy-nilly in different directions. So even though they’re our best tools for communication they often cause miscommunication.
It’s not for nothing marriage counselors recommend paying attention to words when communicating. Of course, your attention can read other meanings into words too much.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been married 3 times. Which has led to some interesting uses of words. Like my son. He was born of my second wife.
Or one might say my son’s mother was my midwife.
A great example of how an accurate description can still sound kind of creepy.
Or the other day a friend of mine was talking about a big truck-trailer rig that was only half loaded. He called it a partial semi.
“Why don’t you just call it a redundant?” I asked.
He looked at me blankly for a moment and then laughed. “Oh yeah, a partial semi...”
Sometimes words just make you wonder where the heck they came from. Like “the willies.” As in, I’ve got the willies. Or she gave him the willies. Or the haunted house gave the teenagers the willies.
In this context, it’s apparently not the name of a person. Hey Willy, how ya doin’? It’s obviously also not a reference to a captive whale. These willies appear already to be free.
And it most certainly isn’t a euphemism for a certain male appendage. Although the exposure of said organ can cause arrest and imprisonment on charges of indecency, it is not a thing that causes horror or nervousness in the entire population per se.
No, these willies that one feels are always plural. An etymological source says “willies” is no doubt a corruption of “woolies.” Wearing ones woollies leads to itchiness and therefore the appearance of nervousness as one fidgets with the itches. Sounds pretty far-fetched to me.
The willies aren’t itches you scratch. No, the willies are adrenalin pre-cursors. You’re right on the edge. Ready to bolt in panic and run away—willy-nilly.
As that word indicates, the running uses up the adrenalin and makes the willies nil.
America, ya gotta love it.