Fun with languages – collywobbles

Sunny greetings, dear reader!

I love watching crime stories, and I recently came across a murder mystery series from New Zealand. When one of the detectives said, “it gives me the collywobbles,” I had to take note of the word because I had never heard it before and thought I should share it with you.

“Collywobbles” describes an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach caused by nervousness, apprehension, or slight fear.

I found a few theories on the web about the origin of this word. The first recorded use seems to be around 1820, and it may have derived from “colic” and “wobble.” In Latin and Greek, there are “colica” and “kōlikḗ,” and in English, we have “colic” and “cholic.” In German, we use “Kolik.” All these words refer to pain that comes in waves, often related to intestinal discomfort. I also learned that “wobble” might come from the German word “wabbeln,” which means “to wobble” and is colloquial for the German word “wackeln.” However, I am by no means an etymologist, so don’t take my word for it!