Refers to an inadequately-perforated and/or too-lightweight spool of paper towels or toilet-tissue. When you try to merely tear off a few sheets by giving the end of the roll a moderate yank, the paper does not separate the way you expected, and so the roll just wastefully whizzes off yards and yards all over the place, obliging you to fumingly remove the messily-bunched-up wad from the holder and tediously re-roll the paper inch-by-inch back onto the core again.
I do indeed prefer to purchase the "bargain basement" tissue-paper rolls from the supermarket or department store --- especially if they have a sale on the huge 20-roll "bales" --- but I find that a lot of times they are "runaway rolls"... the company goofed when they punched the rolls' perforations, and so that's largely why they're being sold off so cheaply.
by QuacksO October 28, 2018