Well attestedNamed from the place
doolally tap
noun · first attested late 19th century
Soldiers lost their minds waiting for a troopship at a camp called Deolali.
A state of mental breakdown or unhinged behavior, in old British army slang.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- late 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Deolali
- In English
doolally tap
Deolali, near Nashik in western India, held British troops between the end of their service and the next ship home, sometimes for months with nothing whatever to do; tap comes from an Indian word for fever. English kept the clipped form doolally long after the camp and the empire behind it had gone.
Also pinned to Deolali
1 more from the same place
India
All 16 entries 14 more words from India
calicoThe print cloth is named for Kozhikode, once called Calicut.KozhikodebungalowThe house type is named for Bengal.BengaldumdumThe bullet is named for an arsenal near Kolkata.Dum DumdungareesThe work clothes are usually traced to a district of Mumbai.DongrijodhpursThe riding trousers are named for a city in Rajasthan.JodhpurmadrasThe checked cotton carries the old name of Chennai.ChennaiindigoThe dye is named for the country it was shipped from.IndiaBangaloreThe demolition charge carries the old spelling of Bengaluru.Bengaluru