collywobbles colloq.
(ˈkɒlɪwɒb(ə)lz)
[Fantastic formation on colic n. and wobble n.]
A disordered state of the stomach characterized by rumbling in the intestines; diarrhœa with stomach-ache; hence gen. indisposition, ‘butterflies in the stomach’, a state of nervous fear. (In quot. 1853 used nonsensically.)
| 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulgar T., Collywobbles, the gripes. 1841 Punch 9 Oct. 154/1 To..keep him from getting the collywobbles in his pandenoodles. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. viii, A touch of the mulligrubs in your collywobbles? 1901 F. T. Bullen Sack of Shakings 308 He laughingly excused himself on the ground that his songs were calculated to give a white man collywobbles. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 185 He is a ‘funk’..or has ‘got the collywobbles’. |