the term Wally World

[DocDrako]

My uncle who lives in Oregon, and his son who lives in Nevada both call it Wally World too. On a side note, almost every time I go to Wal*Mart I inevitably say "You must obey the Tram Law!" as I approach the store. Lame? Yes. Can I stop saying it? No. I've tried. I'm sure my wife would love it if she never heard it again.

[Rallygirl]

I had also never heard of Wal-Mart until it arrived here in the early 1990's. And except for some friends (mostly southern) on various forums, I have never heard it called Wally World.

On a side note, I am proud to say that I am 40 years old and have never been in a Wal-Mart and will never be in a Wal-Mart! While the local store here was being built, I had the misfortune of sitting in a restaurant booth behind the construction manager and the new store's general manager. I overheard them discussing a wager that they had between themselves. The bet,..whether the construction supervisor could put more local contractors out of business than local shops that would be run out business within a year by the new store. What a "fantastic" corporate mentality!

[noelani72]

yup, Central IL knows the term well. We have two of em, and when brought up in conversation, one is referred to as ghetto walmart.
Hell, it's not in the ghetto...so I dunno how that one got started.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I'm with Mike, i never heard of Wal Mart until sometime in the 90's. We just did not have them in the Northeast. We use the term Wally World in a semi derogitory way to talk about Wal Mart because they have ruined the department stores of America....at least Target gives them some serious competition.....anyone remember Caldors, Jamesway. Ames, Mays????? these types of stores could not compete with Wally World and their products coming out of sweat shops in third world countries.....I will shop there, but only as a last resort and usually only for toys or DVD's

[grayhank]

Yeah we have nicknames for all the stores here in Northern California:

Walmart is Wally's or Wally World
Target is pronounced with a french accent... Tar-shay or Tar'je (not sure how to spell it)
Kmart is Kmartha.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wal-Mart opened here in 1984 (one of the first in the area, as I recall), and it wasn't too long until "Wally-World" became the nickname for it here. I've heard it referred to as "Wal-Marts", as in "I'm going to the Wal-Marts".

This is similar to calling McDonald's "Mickey D's". My sister and her friends used that term in high school, and then I actually heard McDonald's use it in an ad campaign in the late 80s.

chris

[bobws]

I didn't remember it from the Vacaction Movie. and we only got it up here in CT about 15 years ago. so i never made a connection. Sugarland sings a song about going down to wally world and i was wondering what they meant. So thank you for letting me in on the nickname!

[vulcan2074]

I think the first time I saw a walmart was around 85 or so in Kansas
Sammy

[Megospidey]

I can't say about where the term started and if Megospidey says it was around prior to Lampoons, so be it. But around here it came in style about 5-6 years ago and came as a result of it's similar name to the Lampoon movie. Walmart is supposed to be this great place full of great things, but it's ultimately a huge disappointment. Which is why it's referred to was Wally World.

It's not just a play on the name, but the quality of the place as well. Wally World is a negative term in this area to describe the disappointment of a Walmart trip, a la the disappointment of the Griswald's vacation trip.

I can definitely see how the nickname stuck in other parts of the country due to the movie.

[jds1911a1]

sometimes I like to use codewords for walmart based on the earlier walden stores ie (i'm running to ben frankilin anyone need anything?) always gets a chuckle from my parents

[mego73]

when I hear Wally World I think of the Vacation movie first off.

My sister calls Wal-Mart "The Wall of Crap"



I just call it Wal-Mart

[livnxxxl]

As far as I know the name was derrived from the Lampoon movie as others have already mentioned previously. I heard a friend use the term once quite some time ago and it just kind of stuck in my head so I call it that now as well. It sounds more snappy IMO. The name Wal-Mart sounds pretty boring to me in comparison. Largely in part to K-Mart being around for so long as well as a lot of other "mart" want to bees.

It is kind of like Tar-GET or Tar-Jay. Tar Jay sounds a lot more fancier when saying ithe name even know the store is still the same place.

[tay666]

Around here it is just referred to as the evil empire.
Lots of people who used to work in the plastic factories that used to be around here despise the place.
Since they are the ones that basically made Little Tikes move the majority of their manufacturing overseas.

[ODBJBG]

I can't say about where the term started and if Megospidey says it was around prior to Lampoons, so be it. But around here it came in style about 5-6 years ago and came as a result of it's similar name to the Lampoon movie. Walmart is supposed to be this great place full of great things, but it's ultimately a huge disappointment. Which is why it's referred to was Wally World.

It's not just a play on the name, but the quality of the place as well. Wally World is a negative term in this area to describe the disappointment of a Walmart trip, a la the disappointment of the Griswald's vacation trip.

[Mikey]

I don't think i've ever even heard of Walmart till the early 90's