Re: recent JDS bibliography

I just responding to Jim, doubting his etymological hypothesis when he said:
<< [. . .] willy-nilly (funny, Byron uses the phrase, "Will I Nill I" --
wonder where that came from? Latin?) [. . . .] >>

I've looked it up in the OED.

will, v., skipping down to the 50th (yes, the 50th) entry:

  50. absol. or intr. a. In disjunctive qualifying phr. such as whether
he (etc.) will or nill, also who(ever will or nill (in senses 2, 5-7):
whether (one) will or not; willingly or unwillingly; voluntarily or
compulsorily. Obs. or rare arch.: replaced by the inverted form in b.

  b. esp. with inversion of subj. (usually a pron.), as will I (or) nill I
(he, they, etc.), or abbreviated, as will (or) nill, willing (or) nilling
(see WILLING ppl. a.); occas. vaguely = ‘one way or another, in any case,
anyhow’. Now chiefly in the reduced form WILLY-NILLY, q.v.

And as I suspected, the Latin is not its father but its cousin, both
descending from Indo-European wel- wol- wl- . The expression is quite
Germanic.

And just for fun, the OED's quotations:
c1000 ÆLFRIC Saints' Lives xvi. 121 Foran e we synd synfulle and sceolan
beon eadmode, wille we, nelle we. c1230 Hali Meid. (1922) 41 Wullen ha
nullen ha. a1300 XV Signa 173 in E.E.P. (1862) 12 For wolny nulni hi sul
fle. ?a1300 Salomon & Sat. (1848) 271 Mote hit al habben is wille, Woltou,
nultou, hit wol spille. 1340 Ayenb. 164 et is al et he may lyese, wylle him
nolle him. 1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A. VII. 144 Wol ou so nulle ou. 1377 Ibid. B.
VI. 158 Wiltow or neltow. Ibid. xx. 29 Wolhe, nolhe. c1400 Laud Troy Bk.
17560 Wil thow, nele thowthe pees schal be! 1548 UDALL, etc. Erasm. Par.
Matt. v. 14-16 Ye hyll..that beareth it [sc. the city], willeth it, nilleth
it, maketh it sene of al men. 1550 BALE Image Both Ch. II. xvi. Rvb, Will
she nyll shee, needes must shee abyde his..sentence. a1555 LATIMER in Foxe
A. & M. (1563) 1324/2 If my Lorde wyll needes..inuade my inwarde manne, wyll
I nyll I. 1565 HARDING Confut. 117 Well, how so euer it be, will ye nill
ye..ye be dryuen to confesse the same to be no newe thing. a1566 R. EDWARDS
Damon & Pithias (1571) Giv, Wyl I or nil I, it must be done. 1567 JEWEL Def.
Apol. 715 God is able (..wil the Councelles, nil the Councelles) to
maintaine..his owne Kingedome. 1590 SPENSER F.Q. I. iii. 43 And will or
nill, Beares her away. 1596 SHAKES. Tam. Shr. II. i. 273 Will you, nill you,
I will marry you. 1599 SYLVESTER Sonn. Mirac. Peace xii, A sacred
rage..Will-nill-I, raps mee boldly to rehearse Great Henrie's Tropheis. 1600
HOLLAND Livy III. xxx, The Nobles were so neere driven and to such
streights, that will they, nill they, yeeld they must thereto. 1614 GORGES
Lucan v. 187 For will, or nill, powre them constraines. 1647 J. BOOKER in
Lilly Chr. Astrol., Be you for or against, or will ye, nill ye; I'm for the
Art, and th' Author William Lilly. 1750 GRAY Long Story xxii, Will he, nill
he, to the Great-house He went, as if the Devil drove him. 1818 KEATS Let.
Wks. 1889 III. 134 In hopes of cheering you..I was determined, will he nill
he, to send you some lines. 1822 BYRON Juan VI. cxviii, But go they must at
once, and will Inill I. 1852 JERDAN Autobiogr. I. xvi. 116, I was obliged,
will-i-nill-i, to take a sailor's advice. 1870 LOWELL Among my Bks., New
Eng. 2 Cent. ago 230 Land for all who would till it, and reading and
writing, will ye nill ye, instead. 1899 SIR G. DOUGLAS James Hogg iii. 68
The galloping movement of the metre hurries us, will-we nill-we, on.

-Robbie

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Received on Thu Nov 6 15:17:11 2003