What is "willy nilly"

Will \Will\, v. i. To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.

And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus . . . touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
--Matt. viii. 2, 3.

Note: This word has been confused with will, v. i., to choose, which, unlike this, is of the weak conjugation.

Will I, nill I, or Will ye, hill ye, or Will he, nill he, whether I, you, or he will it or not; hence, without choice; compulsorily; -- commonly abbreviated to willy nilly. ``If I must take service willy nilly.''
--J. H. Newman. ``Land for all who would till it, and reading and writing will ye, nill ye.''
--Lowell.

adv. (alternative form of willy-nilly English)

Willy Nilly Show is a New Zealand television series originally based on a short film by the same name. It follows the lives of two middle-aged farming brothers, Eric ( Sean Duffy) and Harry ( Mark Hadlow) who are catapulted into the modern world when their bossy and overprotective mother dies and Joy Full ( Tandi Wright), the lovely undertaker’s assistant, comes to stay. It is set in the fictional town of Pokapoka A total of 3 series were made which have all been made available on DVD at filmshop. It was winner of Best Comedy Performance, Script and Direction - NZ TV Awards In 2002, a TV Guide poll found the series to be the most popular New Zealand comedy. The series' most prominent fan base is made up of women over the age of 60.

Willy Nilly is a comic strip in The Beezer and BeanoMAX about a boy with wandering feet. The strip first appeared in around 1993, and continued in the later Beezer annuals. The strip was brought back in 2011 in BeanoMAX with more modern stuff in it. The strip was drawn by David Sutherland in this version.

Category:British comic strips Category:DC Thomson Comics strips