Wally (anonymous)

Wally is a British English expression referring to a "silly or inept person",^[1] which later developed into an umbrella term for "vulnerable individuals".^[2]

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, it possibly originated at a pop festival in the 1960s when, on hearing the name being announced many times over a loudspeaker, the crowd took it up as a chant.^[1]

The cry was picked up by others and led to random shout of "Wally" being heard at rock concerts all over Britain.^[3]^[4] It was still being called out at the 1979 Led Zeppelin Knebworth Concerts.^[5]

In 1974 a group of new age travelers were encamped near Stonehenge, to help hinder the process of eviction by the landowners they all gave their name as Wally of Wessex, "Wally being a conveniently anonymous umbrella for vulnerable individuals".^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "wally" Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
^ ^a ^b Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. wally, n.² citing "1974 Times 8 Aug. 2/4"
^ Nigel Ayers. Where's Wally, Retrieved 2009-01-26
^ Although Nigel Ayers claims 1969, most other sources claim it was at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (see Further reading).
^ "A special thing that I remember is that one person out in the dark night first shouted 'Wally' and then a lot people shouted back 'Bloody Wally' and that continued for hours" (Zarans, Dena (10 December 2007). "Led Zeppelin - Knebworth '79 - More Of Your Memories". Uncut. Retrieved 1 June 2017.),

Wally (from Weely), Pseudo Dictionary, 17 July 2006. An alternative theory that the cry of Wally started at the Weeley Festival.
The Weeley Festival. Clacton On Sea. Essex. August 27-29 1971, The Archive: a history of UK rock festivals, Last update Oct 2007. Refutation that the cry of Wally started at Weeley, and that it started the year before (1970) at the Isle of Wight Festival.
Inside Out Extra: WEELEY - LET IT ROCK!, BBC, Wednesday April 21, 2004. More on the origins of Wally debate.
Isle of Wight Festival - History, BBC Hampshire, Retrieved 2009-01-26.

[ox-1] "wally" Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 6 September 2013.

[oed-2] Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. wally, n.² citing "1974 Times 8 Aug. 2/4"

[3] Nigel Ayers. Where's Wally, Retrieved 2009-01-26

[4] Although Nigel Ayers claims 1969, most other sources claim it was at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (see Further reading).

[5] "A special thing that I remember is that one person out in the dark night first shouted 'Wally' and then a lot people shouted back 'Bloody Wally' and that continued for hours" (Zarans, Dena (10 December 2007). "Led Zeppelin - Knebworth '79 - More Of Your Memories". Uncut. Retrieved 1 June 2017.),

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See also

References

Further reading