What is the meaning of “windy” or “Having the wind up?
The human body naturally reacts to a scare or fright by evacuating the bladder and bowels. It is called the “fight or flight” reaction. That is where the saying “had the shit scared out of him” started. When an upcoming event is scary the body gets ready to evacuate the bowels by pumping large amounts of adrenaline into the system. This tends to create gas in the bowels as part of the attempt to liquefy the excreta to make evacuation easy. The gas is referred to as “wind” (or farts). So , having the wind up meant being nervous or scared. Most soldiers, all sensible ones, have this reaction at some time, usually in the early part of their front line service. After a while the blokes get conditioned, and the problem stops (for most people).
