Willy-nilly (idiom)

1010): “Forean the we synd synfulle and sceolan beon eadmode, wille we, nelle we.”[13] In the 14th century, an inversed version of the idiom, "nil we, wil we" ('one way or another') appeared in the Middle English language.

[12] Edward FitzGerald's 1859 translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam featured the first usage of 'willy-nilly' in its modern definition of haphazardness; "Into this Universe, and why not knowing, Nor whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing".

[12] The archaic definition of the idiom that pertained to indecisiveness appeared in Sir Walter Besant's novel The Orange Girl in 1898; "Let us have no more shilly shally, willy nilly talk", which later spawned the term 'shilly-shally'.

An informal adverb and an adjective, willy-nilly can be used to describe a situation, action, decision, or event that happens or is done haphazardly, randomly, carelessly, chaotically, and without planning, direction or order.

[16] In Kuwaiti, the slang term "khirri mirri" (خِرِّي مِرِّي/خري مري) is an old expression that generally pertains to 'chaos' and 'disorderly', as the two Arabic words symbolize lack of control and binding.