When I think of the word doolally I put it in the same slang category as works such as thing-a-ma-dig. But doolally has an actual definition, a real meaning. Doolally originated with the British Army as a slang term referring to the Deolali Camp in India. It was paired with the word Tap and called Doolally Tap, meaning to go crazy from camp fever. The term was substituted to mean someone who had gone crazy, perhaps just from boredom.
“Sergeant Windsor started to be doolally the longer we stayed in India.”
“After working non-stop on his project for days, Tim felt completely doolally and decided to take a weekend break.”
“Kelly went completely doolally with excitement when she found out she won the grand prize in the fishing contest.”
Gnarly is a term surfers use to describe a challenging wave or situation. But that is more slang and not far from the actual definition. If we described the woods behind our house as gnarly, you would have a picture of undergrowth that was difficult to walk through.
“The briars behind our house were so gnarly that it was impossible for Tom to walk through them in shorts.”
“At the beach, we saw several surfers riding gnarly waves rolling in for hours after the storm passed.”
“The mountain trail was gnarly, with sharp twists and steep drops, but walking the Appalachian Trail, the breathtaking views made it worthwhile.”
Combining these two words into a single sentence was not very hard because they are both a bit of slang.
“After running the gnarly obstacle course, Tony felt completely doolally from excitement at the finish line.”
“After Kris’ gnarly wipeout on the skate ramp, his friends thought he’d gone doolally when he tried the same trick again.”
“The gnarly hike through the dense forest left Jane completely doolally, but she loved the adventure she just had.”
