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]

It is thought to have originated at a pop festival in the late 1960s or early 1970s; many sources suggest the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. An audience member named Walter (Wally) went to buy food for his friends and was unable to find them in the crowd when he tried to return. His friends called out "Wally" but he remained bemused, lost in the crowd. Others people started to shout Wally for a joke (at his expense) and the chant spread all the way through the crowd. Random shouts of "Wally" were subsequently heard at rock concerts all over Britain.^[3] It was still being called out at the 1979 Led Zeppelin Knebworth Concerts.^[4]

In 1974 a group of new age travellers were encamped near Stonehenge, and to help hinder the process of eviction by the landowners, all gave their name as Wally of Wessex,^[5] "Wally being a conveniently anonymous umbrella for vulnerable individuals".^[2]

See also

• John Doe
• Karen Eliot
• Open pop star