lazy louse

English

Etymology

From lazy +‎ louse (“a contemptible person”).

Noun

lazy louse (plural lazy louses or lazy lice)

1. (slang, colloquial, uncommon) One who is lazy; a lazy ass.
   • 1935, Barry Benefield, Valiant is the Word for Carrie, Reynal & Hitchcock, page 14:

     "Lift the body, Phil," I said, "and get going. Don't be a lazy louse." "All right, all right!" [author's italics] He got quickly to his feet and giving Paul a sour look, disappeared through the door of my screened back gallery.

   • 1941, Agnes Morley Cleaveland, No Life for a Lady, University of Nebraska Press, page 161:

     Early, moving toward the woodpile, mutters, 'Jest wait till I grow up and see if you lazy louses can make me chop wood 'cause I'm the littlest.' Only when the welfare of the children was at stake did the ranch women become dictatorial.

   • 1971, Charlotte I. Lee, Oral Interpretation, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 170:

     Even being a lazy louse lying in bed without the hallucination of the reveille seems to constitute an august virtue and a permanent achievement of human civilization.

   • 2014, Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Bridgett Walther, Harness Astrology's Bad Boy: A Handbook for Conquering Pluto's Tumultuous Transit, Beyond Words Publishing, →ISBN, page 140:

     The lure of ditching a horrible boss or no longer having to work with a lazy louse can be very tempting—but be warned. You're about to get a crash course in the meaning of self-motivation.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:idler.