So what exactly are the willies?


I wonder, do we use “the willies” instead of just coming right out and saying something makes us queasy? Why would “the willies” be more acceptable than queasy? What does “the willies” mean exactly?

To find out, we do what every good old girl with an Internet connection does — we Google it!

Here’s what we found:

The definition from Wiki is about the record album so let’s take a peek at the def from Dictionary.com:

wil·lies

[wil-eez]  Noun ( used with a plural verb ) Informal. nervousness or fright; jitters; creeps (usually preceded by the ): That horror movie gave me the willies.

Origin:
1895–1900, Americanism ;  origin obscure; compare -s3

Well. I guess that pretty much sums it up!

But the big question is — what gives you the willies?