collywobbles

Meaning

Noun

• Stomachache or stomach upset.
• Anxiety, fear, uneasiness.

Related

Similar words

• mulligrubs
• creeps, willies, heebie-jeebies, butterflies

Origin

• Attested 1823, presumably from colic + wobble.
• Alternative theories are that it derives from colly, via the putative sense “ill from breathing coal dust”, The first attestation (a mention, not a usage) is in the 1823 edition of A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.