英和和英

語源

Originally ‘will he, nill he’ or ‘will ye, nill ye’, meaning ‘be he willing, be he unwilling’; see will, nill.^[1]

発音

• IPA: /ˌwɪliˈnɪli/

副詞

willy nilly (comparative more willy nilly, superlative most willy nilly)

1. Whether desired or not.
   • 1954: The outer world is what we wake up to every morning of our lives, is the place where, willy-nilly, we must try to make our living. — Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception (Chatto & Windus 1954, p. 36)
2. (idiomatic) Without regard for consequences or the will of those affected.

   So people chasing money churn out novels willy nilly.

3. Seemingly at random, haphazardly

   Alice in Wonderland describes a place where random things happen all willy nilly.

同意語

• nolens volens

参照

1. ^ Willy-nilly, World Wide Words, by Michael Quinion

For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.