This week's theme: words formed by contraction. willy-nilly (WIL-ee NIL-ee) adverb, adjective
1. Whether willing or not. 2. Haphazardly. [From contraction of "will ye/he/I nill ye/he/I", from will (to be willing) and nill (to be unwilling).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=willy-nilly -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "[The interns] had been recruited at the last minute by a government summer job program and assigned, willy-nilly, to the aquarium." David L. Kirp; Diversity and Its Malcontents; The Nation (New York); Apr 21, 2003. A few messages from our sponsors: Which great writer was a pee drinker? Find out in "Secret Lives of Great Authors" Use promocode WORDADAY for 25% off entire order http://www.quirkbooks.com "Telemachus or the Memoirs of an Immortal God" by Robert J. Thieblot. A good read for the intelligent. Check it out at http://amazon.com. Buy it there. ............................................................................ The best way to be more free is to grant more freedom to others. -Carlo Dossi, author and diplomat (1849-1910) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/willy-nilly.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/willy-nilly.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/willy-nilly.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
