doolally tap
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.38 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Mrrhhhh, nothing wrong with me, sergeant, it's just the old Doolally Tap."
- "'The Doolally tap,' my father would say, mysteriously, and McAllister would agree."
- "It would probably give Mrs Doughty an attack of the Doolally-tap."
- "'He's got the doolally-taps,' she'd heard Bob say when they mentioned him, and he usually rolled his eyes and tapped his temple when he said it even though he didn't speak unkindly."
- "Going a bit doolally-tap, if you ask me. Getting odd ideas."
- "The whole family think I've gone doolally-tap; all except Mick, that is."
Etymology
From Deolali (the name of a former British army camp 100 miles north-east of Bombay, used as a transit station for soldiers awaiting transport back to Britain) + tap (from Persian or Urdu تب (tab, “malarial fever”), ultimately from Sanskrit ताप (tāpa, “heat; fever”)). According to one suggestion, to go doolally tap was to go crazy while waiting.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: तप्, ताप
Usage
- Uncountable
- British usage
Inflected Forms
doolally-tap (alternative)
more doolally tap (comparative)
most doolally tap (superlative)