wild and woolly

wild and woolly

1. Coarse, unrefined, or uncouth in appearance or behavior. I was a little nervous about bringing my wild and woolly cousins to the black-tie event in Manhattan, thinking their country ways might not mesh well with my metropolitan colleagues. We all looked a bit wild and woolly after coming back from our three-week camping expedition.
2. Exciting, crazy, or out of hand. Things got pretty wild and woolly and Jenny's party last night.
See also: and, wild, woolly
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wild and woolly

Inf. exciting. Things get a little wild and woolly on a Friday evening at Wally's place. The ride home was a little wild and woolly.
See also: and, wild, woolly
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

wild and woolly

uncouth in appearance or behaviour.
This phrase was originally applied to the American West. The adjective woolly probably refers to sheepskin clothing worn with the wool still attached to it, seen as characteristic clothing of the pioneers and cowboys who opened up the western US.
See also: and, wild, woolly
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

wild and woolly

mod. exciting; hairy. Things get a little wild and woolly on a Friday evening at Willy’s place.
See also: and, wild, woolly
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

wild and woolly (West), the

The untamed, wide open western United States. The term dates from the late nineteenth century, popularized by a book title, Adair Welcker’s Tales of the “Wild and WoollyWest” (1891). A publisher’s note on the book said “wild and woolly” referred to the rough sheepskin coats worn by cowboys and farmers, but Franklin P. Adams said “wild, woolly and full of flies” was a cowboy’s expression for a genuine cowboy. Owen Wister’s The Virginian (1902) stated, “I’m wild, and woolly and full of fleas,” which was later picked up in the cowboy ditty, “Pecos Bill and the Wilful Coyote” (ca. 1932) by W. C. White: “Oh, I’m wild and woolly and full of fleas, Ain’t never been curried below the knees.”
See also: and, wild, woolly
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • wild and woolly (West), the
  • woolly
  • rough as bags
  • hold up to scorn
  • hold (someone or something) up to scorn
  • hold up to ridicule
  • hold (someone or something) up to ridicule
  • ridicule
  • tackhead
  • a nail in the coffin
References in classic literature
Well, play he would; he'd show 'em; even despite the elated prophesies made of how swiftly he would be trimmed--prophesies coupled with descriptions of the bucolic game he would play and of his wild and woolly appearance.
Burning Daylight
It has a mind of its own and the humour in this book lies in the illustrations of the hair's wild and woolly efforts to communicate its wishes.
Herbach, Geoff and Gilpin, Stephen: Hair-pocalypse
-Must be because these wild and woolly titles are like crazy, short-short stories that provide glimpses and strobe-light flashes of folk singers and rockers' most private and telling lows and highs.
More loopy song titles
The wild and woolly West introduced us to the singing cowboy, Roy Rogers, who never lost his stetson in the bar room brawl and his horse Trigger received a thousand fan letters a week.
Fond memories of more innocent escapist fun
Yet seemingly our own Labour council supports these wild and woolly ideas.
It's hard to tell fact from fantasy; FEEDBACK
A delightfully wild and woolly animated 3D that heads to the Stone Age, The Croods transplants an innocently entertaining family romp back to prehistoric times.
Jokes stand test of time; Mirror Sunday MOVIES
IYNF -- quickly dubbed Wild and Woolly 2009 -- follows on IYP (International Year of the Potato), while 2004 was International Year of Rice and 2002 International Year of Mountains.
UN Launched International Year of Natural Fibers 2009
Two-disc version: A Wild And Woolly Ride special effects featurette, Inspiring An Epic story and design featurette, alternative ending, additional scenes.
It's a mammoth disappointment
DVD Extras: none stated; two-disc version: A Wild And Woolly Ride special effects featurette, "Inspiring An Epic" story and design featurette, alternative ending, additional scenes.
dvd reviews: LACKING SOME BITE; Going back in time has never been so painful 10,000 BC ** 12
Historian Stephen Mihm has delved into that wild and woolly piece of American history in his 2007 book "A Nation of Counterfeiters." Mihm, a professor at the University of Georgia, will bring raucous Cogniac Street to life in a presentation at 7:30 p.m.
Funny money
Like lots of others, I went south to educate the wild and woolly Durhamers.
Letter: VOICE OF THE NORTH - Query over Spillers on north side of river
WILD AND WOOLLY: One of Macer's woolly monkeys; GREASE MONKEY: Macer's a mechanic too
Mirror WORKS: I'm the king OF THE SWINGERS
And he lived a wild and woolly life, which ended when he was shot from behind in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota.
The real American Cowboy: the real men and women of the Old West were truly as legendary as classic Hollywood cinema and traditional Western fiction have led us to believe
Thomas Swick's A Way To See The World: From Texas To Transylvania With A Maverick Traveler isn't your usual travelogue of wild and woolly adventures; for Swick chooses no ordinary path for his journeys.
A Way To See The World
And for something completely new, former dancer Lisa Kraus delves into the wild and woolly world of choreography for the camera.
Curtain up