Only Phrases

Meaning
Used for the state of lawlessness

Origin
The first use of this phrase was in the Missouri newspaper The Sedalia Daily Democrat, 1875:
“W. A. Palmer, the South Bend, Indiana, murderer and paramour of Dolly Tripp, was for several years resident of Clinton. Bill always was one of the ‘wild and woolly’ kind and would associate with the demimonde.”