Little Willien.

Brit.

/ˌlɪtl ˈwɪli/, U.S.

/ˌlɪd(ə)l ˈwɪli/

Origin: From a proper name, combined with an English element. Etymons: little adj., proper name Willie.

Etymology: < little adj. + Willie, pet form of the male forename William (see willy n.²).In sense 2 (and probably also in later use in sense 1) after Little Willie, nickname given to Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August Ernst, Crown Prince of Germany (1882–1951), popularized by a series of political cartoons by William Kerridge Haselden, which appeared in the Daily Mirror during the First World War and caricatured the Prince as the ineffectual sidekick of his father Kaiser Wilhelm II (see Kaiser Bill n.), nicknamed Big Willie ; the first of the series, entitled The Sad Experience of Big and Little Willie , was published on 2 October 1914. On specific use as the name of a model of tank see further discussion at tank n.⁷ In quot. 2009 at sense 1 apparently punningly after the name of William Shakespeare (see Shakespearean adj.).

1. colloquial. (A name for) an ordinary or insignificant, or a foolish or incompetent, man.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant

unknownc1390

pawnc1450

semi-cipher?1550

bauble1570

Jack with the feather1581

nobody1583

winterling1585

squash1600

rush candle1628

niflec1635

nullity1657

nonentity1710

featherweight1812

underscrub1822

nyaff1825

small fish1836

no-account1840

little fish1846

peanut1864

commonplacer1874

sparrow-fart1886

Little Willie1901

pipsqueak1905

nebbish1907

pie-biter1911

blob1916

smallie1930

no-count1932

zilch1933

Mickey Mouse1935

muzhik1945

nerd1951

nothingburger1953

nerk1955

non-person1959

no-mark1982

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > held in reproach

gluttonc1300

jau dewin1340

Pilatec1390

rascal?a1400

swartc1425

hoberdc1450

dogshead1539

ladronea1557

clapperdudgeon1567

soused gurnet1598

jail-bird1603

cocoloch1610

swappes1626

incubee1631

stitchel1659

potwalloper1820

Little Willie1901

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] > of small significance

dud1721

lightweight1831

tit1881

mess1891

schmuck1892

schmendrick1897

Little Willie1901

schlepper1901

wally1922

klutz1925

twerp1925

twit1934

jerk1935

schmo1937

shmegegge1937

schlep1939

sad sack1943

no-hoper1944

Joe Schmo1947

jerko1949

nerk1955

prat1955

schmucko1959

Herbert1960

1901 Med. Fortn. July 461 This is just what the ‘little Willies’ are doing in the American Medical Association; they are doing the work—opening the gates, and bearing the burden.

1904 Postal Rec. Aug. 191/2 The schoolboy frolics indulged in by the ‘Little Willies’, ‘Johnnies’ and ‘Freddies’, who, as the glorious Fourth approaches, can not refrain from giving vent to their pent-up patriotism, and must ‘get busy’.

1925 A. Christie Secret of Chimneys xii. 121 That some one unlatched the window..to make it look like an outside job—incidentally with me as Little Willie.

2009 N. Ward et al. Little Bits, Short Pieces 260 I feel like Little Willie did when, at the end of one of his plays, he begged his audience to enjoy what they could and forgive him for mistakes.

2. slang. In the First World War (1914–18).

a. A name given to any of various items of military equipment, spec. a long-range German shell or gun and an early experimental tank.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shell > shell > other types of shell

carcass1684

light ball1729

anchor ball1779

shrapnel1810

hollow shot1862

segment-shell1862

blind-shell1864

ring-shot1868

star shell1876

ring-shell1879

pipsqueak1900

Black Maria1914

coal box1914

crump1914

Jack Johnson1914

Archie1915

Little Willie1915

whizz-bang1915

woolly bear1915

fizzbang1916

five-ninea1918

ashcan1918

cream puff1918

sea-bag1918

pudding1919

G.I. can1929

flechette1961

1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 27 May in In Happy Memory 154 At intervals of about twenty minutes last night they fired a Little Willie on to our trench.

1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 8 June in In Happy Memory 166 Our fieldgun H.E. shell is a very fine thing, more powerful than the German one (otherwise known as Little Willie).

1919 C. A. Botsford Fighting with U.S. Army xiv. 226 They had to skirt huge wide holes scooped out by ‘Jack Johnsons’, and some deeper, narrower ones, also dug there by ‘Little Willies’.

1919 C. Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis Tank Corps iii. 49 Two types of Tank were detrained, ‘Big Willie’ and ‘Little Willie’.

1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 304 Big and Little Willie, names given the Kaiser and German Crown Prince in a series of cartoons... The names soon..were applied to a variety of objects. For instance, two experimental tanks, which were begun on about August, 1915... ‘Little Willie’ first ‘moved’ on September 8th.

1931 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 (ed. 3) 329 Little Willie, Big Willie, the Crown Prince, the Kaiser. So used occasionally by the troops, who applied the terms to all manner of things: e.g. a long-range naval gun operating on the Western Front.

2012 N. Barber Living through World War I 46 Winston Churchill..established a Landships Committee in 1915. The first prototype, known as ‘Little Willie’, was followed by another, ‘Big Willie’.

b. A name given to a German communications trench near the village of Loos on the Western Front (see quot. 1919).

ΚΠ

1917 ‘Sapper’ No Man's Land ii. viii. 246 Only the great slag heap lies squat and menacing on one's left, with the remnants of Big Willie and Little Willie near to its base in the old blood-soaked Hohenzollern redoubt.

1919 F. W. Halsey Lit. Digest Hist. World War III. vii. iv. 45 The ‘bean’ was originally joined on to the German trenches by two communication trenches, which a month or two before the battle had been augmented by ‘Big Willie’ and ‘Little Willie’. ‘Big Willie’ was a strong trench running at an angle from the south end of the ‘bean’ back to the main line. ‘Little Willie’ occupied a similar position from the north end.

c1935 A. Crookenden Hist. Cheshire Regiment 57 On the night of the 1st, an attack was ordered, on the ‘Chord’ by us, and on Little Willie, on our left, by the Welch.

2007 D. Farr Silent General ii. vi. 66 The bombers and 1st Queens attacked towards the Little Willie trench.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	little willie
释义	Little Willien. Brit. /ˌlɪtl ˈwɪli/, U.S. /ˌlɪd(ə)l ˈwɪli/ Origin: From a proper name, combined with an English element. Etymons: little adj., proper name Willie. Etymology: < little adj. + Willie, pet form of the male forename William (see willy n.²).In sense 2 (and probably also in later use in sense 1) after Little Willie, nickname given to Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor August Ernst, Crown Prince of Germany (1882–1951), popularized by a series of political cartoons by William Kerridge Haselden, which appeared in the Daily Mirror during the First World War and caricatured the Prince as the ineffectual sidekick of his father Kaiser Wilhelm II (see Kaiser Bill n.), nicknamed Big Willie ; the first of the series, entitled The Sad Experience of Big and Little Willie , was published on 2 October 1914. On specific use as the name of a model of tank see further discussion at tank n.⁷ In quot. 2009 at sense 1 apparently punningly after the name of William Shakespeare (see Shakespearean adj.). 1. colloquial. (A name for) an ordinary or insignificant, or a foolish or incompetent, man. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant unknownc1390 pawnc1450 semi-cipher?1550 bauble1570 Jack with the feather1581 nobody1583 winterling1585 squash1600 rush candle1628 niflec1635 nullity1657 nonentity1710 featherweight1812 underscrub1822 nyaff1825 small fish1836 no-account1840 little fish1846 peanut1864 commonplacer1874 sparrow-fart1886 Little Willie1901 pipsqueak1905 nebbish1907 pie-biter1911 blob1916 smallie1930 no-count1932 zilch1933 Mickey Mouse1935 muzhik1945 nerd1951 nothingburger1953 nerk1955 non-person1959 no-mark1982 the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > held in reproach gluttonc1300 jau dewin1340 Pilatec1390 rascal?a1400 swartc1425 hoberdc1450 dogshead1539 ladronea1557 clapperdudgeon1567 soused gurnet1598 jail-bird1603 cocoloch1610 swappes1626 incubee1631 stitchel1659 potwalloper1820 Little Willie1901 the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > [noun] > of small significance dud1721 lightweight1831 tit1881 mess1891 schmuck1892 schmendrick1897 Little Willie1901 schlepper1901 wally1922 klutz1925 twerp1925 twit1934 jerk1935 schmo1937 shmegegge1937 schlep1939 sad sack1943 no-hoper1944 Joe Schmo1947 jerko1949 nerk1955 prat1955 schmucko1959 Herbert1960 1901 Med. Fortn. July 461 This is just what the ‘little Willies’ are doing in the American Medical Association; they are doing the work—opening the gates, and bearing the burden. 1904 Postal Rec. Aug. 191/2 The schoolboy frolics indulged in by the ‘Little Willies’, ‘Johnnies’ and ‘Freddies’, who, as the glorious Fourth approaches, can not refrain from giving vent to their pent-up patriotism, and must ‘get busy’. 1925 A. Christie Secret of Chimneys xii. 121 That some one unlatched the window..to make it look like an outside job—incidentally with me as Little Willie. 2009 N. Ward et al. Little Bits, Short Pieces 260 I feel like Little Willie did when, at the end of one of his plays, he begged his audience to enjoy what they could and forgive him for mistakes. 2. slang. In the First World War (1914–18). a. A name given to any of various items of military equipment, spec. a long-range German shell or gun and an early experimental tank. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shell > shell > other types of shell carcass1684 light ball1729 anchor ball1779 shrapnel1810 hollow shot1862 segment-shell1862 blind-shell1864 ring-shot1868 star shell1876 ring-shell1879 pipsqueak1900 Black Maria1914 coal box1914 crump1914 Jack Johnson1914 Archie1915 Little Willie1915 whizz-bang1915 woolly bear1915 fizzbang1916 five-ninea1918 ashcan1918 cream puff1918 sea-bag1918 pudding1919 G.I. can1929 flechette1961 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 27 May in In Happy Memory 154 At intervals of about twenty minutes last night they fired a Little Willie on to our trench. 1915 D. O. Barnett Let. 8 June in In Happy Memory 166 Our fieldgun H.E. shell is a very fine thing, more powerful than the German one (otherwise known as Little Willie). 1919 C. A. Botsford Fighting with U.S. Army xiv. 226 They had to skirt huge wide holes scooped out by ‘Jack Johnsons’, and some deeper, narrower ones, also dug there by ‘Little Willies’. 1919 C. Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis Tank Corps iii. 49 Two types of Tank were detrained, ‘Big Willie’ and ‘Little Willie’. 1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 304 Big and Little Willie, names given the Kaiser and German Crown Prince in a series of cartoons... The names soon..were applied to a variety of objects. For instance, two experimental tanks, which were begun on about August, 1915... ‘Little Willie’ first ‘moved’ on September 8th. 1931 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 (ed. 3) 329 Little Willie, Big Willie, the Crown Prince, the Kaiser. So used occasionally by the troops, who applied the terms to all manner of things: e.g. a long-range naval gun operating on the Western Front. 2012 N. Barber Living through World War I 46 Winston Churchill..established a Landships Committee in 1915. The first prototype, known as ‘Little Willie’, was followed by another, ‘Big Willie’. b. A name given to a German communications trench near the village of Loos on the Western Front (see quot. 1919). ΚΠ 1917 ‘Sapper’ No Man's Land ii. viii. 246 Only the great slag heap lies squat and menacing on one's left, with the remnants of Big Willie and Little Willie near to its base in the old blood-soaked Hohenzollern redoubt. 1919 F. W. Halsey Lit. Digest Hist. World War III. vii. iv. 45 The ‘bean’ was originally joined on to the German trenches by two communication trenches, which a month or two before the battle had been augmented by ‘Big Willie’ and ‘Little Willie’. ‘Big Willie’ was a strong trench running at an angle from the south end of the ‘bean’ back to the main line. ‘Little Willie’ occupied a similar position from the north end. c1935 A. Crookenden Hist. Cheshire Regiment 57 On the night of the 1st, an attack was ordered, on the ‘Chord’ by us, and on Little Willie, on our left, by the Welch. 2007 D. Farr Silent General ii. vi. 66 The bombers and 1st Queens attacked towards the Little Willie trench. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1901
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