"Willy nilly" an english phrase.

Question

I was wondering if anyone knows the spanish equivalent phrase, if any. To use Willy nilly in a sentence: The banks gave out loans willy nilly in times gone by. ie The banks gave out loans easily/without thought. Any ideas?

• Hi, great question! I don't think that there is an exact translation but Cordobesa has an equivalent meaning below. - Martha-SD Feb 18, 2012

Answer 1

Podrías decir: "Los bancos daban créditos a lo loco" o "daban créditos sin ton ni son".

Answer 2

Willy-Nilley

In a careless and unplanned way - They decided willy-nilly to change the rules.

The nearest I can get to the above example would be "unsystematically" which I think translates as,

De cualquier manera.

However, you might want to wait for a native speaker to answer.

Answer 3

In addition to what Eddy said, consider these:

capriciously caprichosamente,al capricho

at random al azar,

unforeseen a lo imprevisto

Try this thread willy-nilly or these ones via WordReference willy nilly

Answer 4

Los bancos daban créditos de forma indiscriminada.

Los bancos daban créditos sin mirar a quién.

Answer 5

Hi AeryFaery,

Willy nilly is in the Phrasebook and you'll also find it in Translator. It's always worth looking at Phrasebook before posting.

http://www.spanishdict.com/phrasebook/search/willy nilly

• Can't seem to fix a link but there's the URL. - galsally Feb 19, 2012
• I tried looking but it didn't come up. Must llok harder the next time :/ - AeryFaery Feb 26, 2012