Willow's Weekly Word

Since I used the term the willies in my post yesterday, I began to
wonder about its etymology. Believe it or not, it has nothing to do
with this Willie! I came up with two explanations and I believe the
second one to make more sense. The first one I found was traced
back to 1896, which was a spell of nervousness perhaps from the
"woollies", a dialectal term for nervous uneasiness, probably in
reference to the itchiness of wool clothing. Well, maybe. But I like this
explanation better. The "willies" in the ballet Giselle take their name
from the Serbo-Croation word "vila" (in English wili or willi) meaning
a wood-nymph or fairy, usually the spirit of a betrothed girl who
died after being jilted by her lover. This seems more logical that a
willi, the spirit or ghost, over time became "the willies", or the feeling
of something creepy. So, there you have it, my bloggy friends! What
gives you the willies this time of year?
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