On Mon, 21 Sep 2015 07:53:44 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On Sun, 20 Sep 2015 16:18:02 +0000, Bike Rider
m wrote:

replying to Tim Wescott , Bike Rider wrote:
tim wrote:

The sons of the family mechanic talked about "wallering a hole", in the
sense of "to wear and enlarge in an uncontrolled manner" ("the bolt was
loose and wallered out the hole, now it don't fit"), or (with contempt
for shade-tree mechanics) "to intentionally enlarge a hole in an
uncontrolled manner" ("that deleted just wallered out those holes
instead of using a drill bit of the proper size, now nuthin' fits right").
Has anyone else seen this? I'm curious if it was a family invention or
if it's a word of real usage.
--
Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com


I grew up in Northern Illinois and have lived in various northern places
in the US. We always used the term, wallered, to talk about what happen
when you have enlarged a hole, like for a bold that uses an allen wrench,
that has become worn with usage and the allen wrench slips. Same thing for
Phillips head screw and to a lesser extent, slot head screws.

It was a common term when I was in the Air Force, the sheetmetal guys
used to say things like "just waller out the hole till it fits",
meaning to twist the drill around to make it cut a larger hole.

I always assumed that it was a corruption of the word "wallow" which
can mean "an indolent or clumsy rolling about".

It also means a rough hole. IE buffalo wallows etc etc