willy-nilly

[bnjtokyo]

willy-nilly - My American Heritage Dictionary defines it as
adv - Whether desired or not; adj - Being or occurring whether desired or not
It say the word is a variant of "will I nill I" meaning "Be I willing , be I unwilling"

Dictionary.com defines it as
"in a disorganized or unplanned manner; sloppily."
and says its origin is from 1600 - 1610 from the phrase "will ye, nill ye"

[Slava]

Nice light one here. It's also rather closely related to Latin's nolens volens, "willing or not."

[bnjtokyo]

But "nolens volens" should be translated as "not willing or willing" and does not directly suggest "willy-nilly." The difference -- negative/affirmative vs affirmative/negative -- suggests the psycho linguistic component of Latin is different from that of English.

[LukeJavan8]

There are so many of these "double" words:
e.g. "hanky-panky", etc.

[David Myer]

Why is it that a huge proportion of rhyming combination words start with 'H' hurdy-gurdy, hanky-panky, higgledy-piggledy, harum-skarum, helter-skelter and lots more?

[Slava]

Why is it that a huge proportion of rhyming combination words start with 'H' hurdy-gurdy, hanky-panky, higgledy-piggledy, harum-skarum, helter-skelter and lots more?

Good question. Now your mission, if you decide to accept it, is to solve this conundrum. This message will not self-destruct.

Welcome to the Agora, David. Hope you enjoy being here. Any questions, fire away. Usually in Res Diversae, just to keep things somewhat neat.

[LukeJavan8]

Why is it that a huge proportion of rhyming combination words start with 'H' hurdy-gurdy, hanky-panky, higgledy-piggledy, harum-skarum, helter-skelter and lots more?

Silly-willy
Willy-nilly