blow a hoolie v. phr. (of weather) to storm; to forcefully gust, blow, and rain. Editorial Note: The stand-alone hoolie ‘a severe storm’ is rare outside of the blow a hoolie construction. It is sometimes spelled hooley. Etymological Note: Perhaps connected to hooley defined by Jonathon Green’s Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang as “a rip-roaring party” and marked as originally Irish, though the sense has a history in the US as well. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
You must log in to post a comment.
Lie Like a Rug 08/26/2017: The words we choose can change attitudes — and change lives. A swing-dance instructor has switched to gender-neutral language when teaching couples. He says that... [more]
Pig Latin 08/19/2017: Grant and Martha discuss the L-word — or two L-words, actually: liberal and libertarian. They reflect different political philosophies, so why do they look so... [more]
Whistle in the Dark 08/12/2017: The language and melodies of military marching songs connect grown children with their parents who served, as do parents' love letters from World War II.... [more]
Chocolate Gravy 08/05/2017: Say you have an acquaintance you always see at the dog park or the playground. But one night, you run into them at the movies,... [more]
Fickle Finger of Fate 07/29/2017: A young woman wants a family-friendly way to describe a statement that's fraudulent or bogus, but all the words she can think of sound old-fashioned.... [more]
i first used the term in 1986, conversationally. i don’t know if i made it up or had heard it elsewhere; but i suspect the former.
My late friend said it to me during the 1980’s, always about high winds, he was from Thurso in Scotland and I assumed it was Scots.
The original phrase I first heard was “blowing a hooligan (of a wind)” whilst sailing in mid eighties. Latterly I more often have heard the shortened “blowing a hoolie”.