Get a wiggle on

"Get a wriggle on" is an idiom and colloquial expression in the English language, originating in the 18th century. It means to hurry up; get a move on.

• Get a wriggle on, or we'll miss the beginning of the concert.
• If you don't get a wriggle on, we'll miss the first act.

Etymology

In 1891 Wilson's Photographic Magazine published "The American Psalm of Life" which began, "Get a wiggle on, my lad, Don't walk at a funeral pace..."^[1] By 1919 the phrase was also used in a song, "Get a wiggle on, get a wiggle on, Don't stand there with a giggle-on."^[2] By the 1920s the term had found its way into the American language as slang.^[3]

History

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the phrase as meaning to hurry up.^[4] Get a wiggle on is both an English language idiom and a Colloquial Expression.^[5] The phrase has been in use since 1891 and is still being used in the 21st century.^[6] The similar phrase "get a wriggle on" is slang in Australia and appears in the Aussie Slang Dictionary^[7]

See also

• List of English-language idioms