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I guffawed in a most unladylike manner the other day when I learned that the word willy-nilly originally meant "willing or not willing." Here's Leslie Stephen (1894): "You are engaged in the game willy-nilly, and cannot be a mere looker-on."
Somehow, maybe because of the "sounds-like syndrome" described by Charles Harrington Elster, the word willy-nilly changed from meaning "whether willing or not" to the one we use today: "helter-skelter, higgledy-piggledy, with alarums and excursions."
Today we're checking out a dignified synonym of willy-nilly: nolens volens, Latin for "unwilling (or) willing."
The "volens" bit is related to other English words about wishes and wills, like will, volunteer, voluntary, volition, ____volent ("kind," or literally, "well-wishing"), its opposite malevolent ("cruel," or literally, "evil-wishing"), and the weird but useful vell___y ("a wish or desire to do something even though you won't make much effort to make it happen").
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make your point with...
"NOLENS VOLENS"
This term is Latin for "unwilling (or) willing."
Something that happens nolens volens happens whether or not people want it to (and they probably don't want it to).
Pronunciation:
NO lenz VO lenz
Part of speech:
Adverb: "nolens volens, you'll present this to the class;" "he was a contributor, nolens volens."
Other forms:
There's an old version of this term that switches the two elements: "volens nolens."
How to use it:
This term is at once formal and funny. And, like "vice versa" and "viva voce," it's fun to say. Enjoy it!
It's an adverb, so you place it somewhere near your verb. You can do this in several ways:
1. Nolens volens, Trump is the author of Whose Boat is This Boat?
2. Trump is the author, nolens volens.
3. Trump, nolens volens, is the author.
4. Trump is, nolens volens, the author.
Notice in the examples above that I enclosed "nolens volens" in commas. If you prefer, you can call greater attention to your comment by using dashes. "Trump--nolens volens--is the author." Or, call less attention with parentheses. "Trump is the author (nolens volens)."
examples:
"Three or four years might make me a sailor in every respect, mind and habits, as well as body, nolens volens, and would put all my companions so far ahead of me that a college degree and a profession would be in vain to think of.."
— Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, 1840
"With the Bourbons, spurred on by Charles III, the Hispanic world was projected, nolens volens, toward modernity."
— Serge Gruzinski, Images at War: Mexico From Columbus to Blade Runner (1492–2019), 2001
has this page helped you understand "nolens volens"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "nolens volens" without saying "whether you like it or not" or "despite any objections."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) was compelled, nolens volens, to (do something)."
Example: "In the choir in elementary school, we were compelled, nolens volens, to participate in a kind of dorky choreography, a lot of slow arm-lifting, sassy finger-wagging, and cringey pantomiming of whatever the lyrics were saying at that moment. I tried to stand in the back."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
In August, we're playing the time-honored Game of Venery!
We're inventing terms for groups of things: terms that James Lipton, the author of An Exaltation of Larks, calls "shards of poetry and truth." Example terms of venery include lovely ones like "a conflagration of fireflies" and silly ones like "a myopia of umpires," "a rash of dermatologists," and "an unemployment of graduates."
In each issue this month, I'll offer two templates. Have fun filling them in and sharing your inventions with your family, being as lofty, silly, or bawdy as you like. In each subsequent issue, I'll list the actual terms that appear in Lipton's book.
From the previous issue:
1. A ubiquity of _____
2. A _____ of playwrights
The terms listed in the book are "a ubiquity of sparrows" and "an abyss of playwrights."
Try these today:
1. A rictus of _____
2. A _____ of escort services
review this word:
1. The opposite of NOLENS VOLENS is
A. SLOWLY.
B. OPTIONALLY.
C. COMPULSORILY.
2. _____ and cannot be _____ nolens volens.
A. Writing skills develop with effort .. forced in
B. Best-sellers have broad appeal .. specialized
C. Plays are meant to be seen .. fully enjoyed on paper
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
I guffawed in a most unladylike manner the other day when I learned that the word willy-nilly originally meant "willing or not willing." Here's Leslie Stephen (1894): "You are engaged in the game willy-nilly, and cannot be a mere looker-on."
"NOLENS VOLENS" This term is Latin for "unwilling (or) willing."
"Three or four years might make me a sailor in every respect, mind and habits, as well as body, nolens volens, and would put all my companions so far ahead of me that a college degree and a profession would be in vain to think of.."
Explain the meaning of "nolens volens" without saying "whether you like it or not" or "despite any objections."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) was compelled, nolens volens, to (do something)."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The opposite of NOLENS VOLENS is
|