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.
Space Cadet (episode #1514) 12/24/2018: We have books for language-lovers and recommendations for history buffs. • How did the word boondoggle come to denote a wasteful project? The answer involves... [more]
Howling Fantods (episode #1513) 12/17/2018: Are there words and phrases that you misunderstood for an embarrassingly long time? Maybe you thought that money laundering literally meant washing drug-laced dollar bills,... [more]
Cootie Shot (episode #1510) 12/10/2018: Perfect sentences and slang that tickles your mind! A new book of writing advice says a good sentence "imposes a logic on the world's weirdness"... [more]
Bottled Sunshine (episode #1512) 11/19/2018: If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means "an... [more]- Care Package (episode #1511) 11/12/2018: Sending someone a care package shows you care, of course. But the first care packages were boxes of food and personal items for survivors of... [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”.