Query: "throw a wobbly" (have a fit)

[James Landau]

Not all that likely, but a reference to the IWW (Industrial Workers of the
World), commonly known as the "Wobblies"?


> [Original Message]
> From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: 1/29/2006 1:04:14 PM
> Subject: Query: "throw a wobbly" (have a fit)
>
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> Subject:      Query: "throw a wobbly" (have a fit)
>
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>
>      One of my students mentioned "throw a wobbly" (= throw a fit).
> She's from Jefferson City, Missouri but isn't sure where she heard the
expression.
>
>     I see "wobbly" listed in Jonathon Green's _Cassell's Dictionary of
Slang_ with a relevant meaning: "[1930s+] a fit of nerves, of panic, of bad
temper; thus one who has such attacks."  But I never heard of this word
before.
>
>     Is anyone familiar with this "wobbly" (and "throw a wobbly") in U.S.
usage?
>
> Gerald Cohen
>
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