1
Stage 1 of 4
Deolali
Marathi · 1861
"a transit camp town"
name of a British Army transit camp near Mumbai, notorious for boredom and disease
2
Stage 2 of 4
tap
Urdu · medieval
"fever"
meant 'fever'
3
Stage 3 of 4
doolally tap
English · 1917
"feverish madness from being stuck at the camp"
British soldiers combined the camp's name with the word for fever to describe men driven mad by the long wait there
4
Stage 4 of 4
doolally
English · 1940s
"crazy, eccentric, mad"
shortened into general British slang
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