wally
a stupid person
TRANSLATION
wally = der Blödmann, der Depp --- GOOGLE INDEX Because wally is also a common man's name, determining the number of Google hits with respect to the adjective "wally" is not possible.
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Don't be a WALLY with water"
(part of an Australian awareness campaign to save water)
---
Adele slams David Cameron as a WALLY
(The Mirror)
(part of an Australian awareness campaign to save water)
---
Adele slams David Cameron as a WALLY
(The Mirror)
Did you
know?
wally
noun, slang
- a stupid person
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Wally was once just the shortened form of the male proper name "Walter" (Walter stems from the Old High German Walthari, Walthere, meaning ruler of the army). Sometime over the past few decades wally came to be used as a mild description for an ignorant person. Used mainly in Britain and Australia, its origin is a complete mystery.
Still, there are some "experts" who claim to know the real Wally after whom the word wally is named. We'll likely never who Wally was or if there ever was one. Apart from using it as an abusive description, wally is also slang for a type of pickled gherkin and in Scotland they like to call false teeth "wallies."
Wally is not the only proper name that is used to describe other things. Charlie, short for Charles, was originally US slang and is meanwhile used in the British expressions "a proper Charlie" and "a right Charlie" to describe a foolish person.
Willie (short for William) is another unfortunate name that has been turned into slang for a certain part of the male body, as has dick (Richard). Johnny, short for John or Jonathan, is an affectionate term for a condom. And speaking of condoms, a John is what prostitutes call their customers.
It really gets interesting when the Bobbies (Bobby, slang for police officer, is short for Robert) meet the Johns. Bobby, as in a police officer, alludes to Sir Robert Peel, Home Secretary in 1828 when the Metropolitan Police Act was passed, creating the modern English police force.
---
SYNONYMS
boob, buffoon, dimwit, dope, idiot, ignoramus, lamebrain, moron, nitwit, twit
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Some wally nearly hit me with his car while I was riding my bike to work."
noun, slang
- a stupid person
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Wally was once just the shortened form of the male proper name "Walter" (Walter stems from the Old High German Walthari, Walthere, meaning ruler of the army). Sometime over the past few decades wally came to be used as a mild description for an ignorant person. Used mainly in Britain and Australia, its origin is a complete mystery.
Still, there are some "experts" who claim to know the real Wally after whom the word wally is named. We'll likely never who Wally was or if there ever was one. Apart from using it as an abusive description, wally is also slang for a type of pickled gherkin and in Scotland they like to call false teeth "wallies."
Wally is not the only proper name that is used to describe other things. Charlie, short for Charles, was originally US slang and is meanwhile used in the British expressions "a proper Charlie" and "a right Charlie" to describe a foolish person.
Willie (short for William) is another unfortunate name that has been turned into slang for a certain part of the male body, as has dick (Richard). Johnny, short for John or Jonathan, is an affectionate term for a condom. And speaking of condoms, a John is what prostitutes call their customers.
It really gets interesting when the Bobbies (Bobby, slang for police officer, is short for Robert) meet the Johns. Bobby, as in a police officer, alludes to Sir Robert Peel, Home Secretary in 1828 when the Metropolitan Police Act was passed, creating the modern English police force.
---
SYNONYMS
boob, buffoon, dimwit, dope, idiot, ignoramus, lamebrain, moron, nitwit, twit
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Some wally nearly hit me with his car while I was riding my bike to work."
