A Kiwi Calls Her Yank Beau a “Wally”

Vanessa, who is originally from New Zealand, jokingly calls her American boyfriend a wally, an adjective that means “silly,” “daft,” or “inept.” Heard in much of the United Kingdom, this term may be related to the British slang term for “cucumber” or “a ‘green’ unskilled, inexperienced person,” or the Scottish term wally-drag, which means a “runt” or “slovenly person,” or the Italian term uaglio, meaning “young man.” But the truth is that the etymology of this type of wally is uncertain. This is part of a complete episode.