a troche y moche

Question

According to my dictionary:
a troche y moche (adverb)
1. helter-skelter,
haphazardly
pell-mell, pellmell
all over the place
Examples :
gastar el dinero a troche y moche: to spend money like water.
Dieron golpes a troche y moche: They lashed out left, right and centre.
Synonyms: desordenadamente , a lo loco, a tontas y a locas, al tuntún (willy-nilly).

Does anyone know where did this saying come from?
I would also like to know if there is an equivalent in English.

P:S. I have also heard "a trote y moche" .

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The "commonly" accepted version is that it is an assimilation from "troce y moche", from "trozar" and "mochar" (documented in 1611); this is consistent with the meaning of the expression (sin tino ni medida). The Portuguese counterpart "a trouxe-mouxe" seems to come from Spanish. I have no further details.

Answer 2

samdie said:

Not really on topic but I can´t resist pointing out that ¨willy nilly¨is a corruption (adaptation) of the latin ¨volere nolere¨ (meaning "willing or not). I mention it only because, otherwise, "willy nilly" sounds silly. (My contribution to to poetry for today).

Glad I spotted that as I used willy nilly a couple of days back and kept ti in English.

Answer 3

Not really on topic but I can´t resist pointing out that ¨willy nilly¨is a corruption (adaptation) of the latin ¨volere nolere¨ (meaning "willing or not). I mention it only because, otherwise, "willy nilly" sounds silly. (My contribution to to poetry for today).

Answer 4

I guess the closest equivalent in english is "uncontrollably" or "without stopping". So, it would be:

Hacer algo a troche y moche.
To do something uncontrollably Doing something uncontrollably