Etymology

doolally tap

Today it means: Camp fever; by extension, madness, eccentricity. Full definition →

Sanskrit ताप
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The story

  1. Sanskrit · derived fromताप“heat; fever”
  2. English todaydoolally tap

From Deolali (the name of a former British army camp 100 miles north-east of Bombay, used as a transit station for soldiers awaiting transport back to Britain) + tap (from Persian or Urdu تب (tab, “malarial fever”), ultimately from Sanskrit ताप (tāpa, “heat; fever”)). According to one suggestion, to go doolally tap was to go crazy while waiting.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.