Green’s Dictionary of Slang

willie n.⁴

(orig. Aus.) a tantrum.

1997–2002

Alt. Eng. Dict. 🌐 willie tantrum.

In phrases

chuck a willie (v.) (also chuck a willy, throw a willy)

(Aus.) to throw a fit, lit. or fig.

1929		Cumberland Argus (Sydney) 15 Aug. 18/4: When forcibly about the street you rouse, / If when it’s dry your wife is driven dilly / Because the house is always full of dust, / And if sometimes you nearly throw a willie / When you consider things are so unjust.
1930		Truth (Sydney) 23 Nov. 3/5: A tote clerk at Rosebery yesterday almost chucked a willie at the window when an investor appeared and plonked down £100 in one hand. It was the biggest lump sum ever staked in on one horse in the history of the Rosebery Club, and possibly in all A.R.C. racing.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 121: To throw a fit is [...] to throw a sixer, willy or seven.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 240/2: throw a willy – have a fit, as ‘I was so furious I almost threw a willy.’.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxiii 4/3: chuck a willy: Have a fit.
1982		N. Keesing Lily on the Dustbin 184: Family members [...] will long remember the day mum ‘blew her top’, ‘snapped her twig’, ‘popped her cork’, ‘did her block’ and ‘chucked a willy.’.