# What are Collywobbles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582 "2011-06-23T18:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/1 "2011-06-23T18:04:13Z")
[Sheepdog gets Collywobbles.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2006744/The-sheepdog-thats-afraid-sheep.html) Seriously, what are Collywobbles? Panic attack? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/2 "2011-06-23T18:48:16Z")
Not so much a panic attack as just plain fear. I’d say it’s somewhere around “butterflies in the stomach” fear. Etymologically, it seems to have been coined to mean something like “shaking guts”. In the case of the linked article, it’s also a bad pun, since the dog in question is a fearful (hence “shaking”) Border Collie. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/3 "2011-06-23T19:38:45Z")
Actually Collywobbles would be such a cool name for a dog, especially if he was a collie 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/4 "2011-06-23T20:01:27Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Actually Collywobbles would be such a cool name for a dog, especially if he was a collie 🙂 …with an inner ear disorder? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/5 "2011-06-23T21:12:40Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > …with an inner ear disorder? 😉 Fainting Collie Syndrome? 😃 Real Answer for Collywobbles: Aren’t they the British version of what Americans call ‘butterflies in the stomach’ ? I always thought it was a funny word when I read it, and it sounds much more upset and “quakey” than the Americanism. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/6 "2011-06-23T22:04:08Z")
My grandmother uses the word to mean an upset stomach generally – diarrhea included, most often. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/7 "2011-06-23T22:15:23Z")
> [@Sal\_Ammoniac](#): > > My grandmother uses the word to mean an upset stomach generally – diarrhea included, most often. That’s one of the definitions, anyway, though I’ve seldom seen it used that way. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether it arose from “cholera morbus” or from a portmanteau of “colic” and “wobble”. I’ll admit that the latter sounds like a folk etymology. I’m pretty sure the collie _was_ running, rather than _having_ the runs, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/8 "2011-06-24T00:47:48Z")
I thought it related to Collingwood, an Australian Rules Football team. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/9 "2011-06-24T00:50:01Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > …with an inner ear disorder? 😉 Interesting combination of subject matter and user name… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-collywobbles/586582/10 "2011-06-24T01:48:02Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > That’s one of the definitions, anyway, though I’ve seldom seen it used that way. There seems to be some disagreement as to whether it arose from “cholera morbus” or from a portmanteau of “colic” and “wobble”. I’ll admit that the latter sounds like a folk etymology. While it sounds like folk etymology, the OED accepts it.