/ ˈwæmi; NAmE / noun
( pl. -ies ) ( informal ) an unpleasant situation or event that causes problems for sb/sth :
With this government we've had a double whammy of tax increases and benefit cuts.
ORIGIN: From the 1950s American cartoon Li'l Abner , in which one of the characters could shoot a whammy (put a curse on sb) by pointing a finger with one eye open, or a double whammy with both eyes open.
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WORD ORIGIN
1940s: from the noun wham + -y ; associated from the 1950s with the cartoon strip Li'l Abner , in which the hillbilly Evil-Eye Fleegle could “shoot a whammy” (to put a curse on somebody) by pointing a finger with one eye open, and a double whammy with both eyes open.