Wally is a

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadl ...

expression referring to a "silly or inept person","wally"
Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 6 September 2013. which later developed into an umbrella term for "vulnerable individuals". 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. On hearing the name "Wally" being announced many times over a

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...

, the crowd took it up as a chant, and random shouts of "Wally" were subsequently heard at rock concerts all over Britain. It was still being called out at the 1979 Led Zeppelin Knebworth Concerts. In 1974 a group of new age travellers were encamped near

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connec ...

, and to help hinder the process of eviction by the landowners, all gave their name as Wally of Wessex, "Wally being a conveniently anonymous umbrella for vulnerable individuals".

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

, 2nd edition. ''wally, ''n.²'' citing "1974 Times 8 Aug. 2/4"''

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