What it means
Doolally means you’re bonkers, muddled, or acting a bit off, usually said with a grin rather than malice. It’s short for the old phrase doolally tap, linked to Deolali, a British Army transit camp in India where lads supposedly went stir-crazy waiting to ship out. When someone’s chatting absolute nonsense, that’s your word.
Usage examples
"Mum’s gone doolally, I reckon. She’s labelled every tin in the cupboard, then told the neighbours the cat’s training for the marathon."
"Gone a bit doolally in lockdown, I started naming the pigeons on my balcony and chatting to them daily."
"She'll go doolally if she sees the state of this kitchen, so give us a hand tidying before she's back."
Where it comes from
It traces to Deolali, a British Army transit camp near Mumbai where soldiers waited, sometimes for months, to sail home. The boredom and heat sent more than a few round the twist, and doolally tap, the Deolali fever, became forces slang for losing the plot, later trimmed to plain doolally.
Other ways to say it
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