lollygag

English

WOTD – 24 April 2006

Alternative forms

• lallygag, lollygog, lalligag, lolligag

Etymology

By surface analysis, lolly (“fool, tongue”) +‎ gag (“fool around”). Compare lollypoop. Cited in American dialects from 1871 and attested since at least 1859.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɒlɪɡæɡ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

lollygag (third-person singular simple present lollygags, present participle lollygagging, simple past and past participle lollygagged)

1. (US) To dawdle; to be lazy or idle; to avoid necessary work or effort.

   Synonyms: dawdle, shirk, slack, procrastinate; see also Thesaurus:shirk

   • 1993, Secret of Mana (fantasy):

     Stop lollygagging! […] He ate ALL the ship's food! 'Zat your friend? Show him outta here!

   • 1889, Albany Law Journal, page 79:

     Now this plaintiff thinks how poor he hereafter will have to live, for the sake of old Green's having a fine fat woman to lollygag with.

2. (US, dated, 19th-20th centuries) To fool around, especially sexually.
   • 1946, Captain C. F. Behrens, MC, USN, quoted in Time Magazine, volume 47, part 1, page 74, 1946:

     Lovemaking and lollygagging are hereby strictly forbidden. […] The holding of hands, osculation and constant embracing of WAVES, corpsmen or civilians and sailors or any combination of male and female personnel is a violation of naval discipline. […]

3. (US, dated, 19th-20th centuries) To effusively (often excessively) display affection.
   • 1912, Dialect Notes. Vol III (1905-1912). Publication of the American Dialect Society., page 582:

     At the fair the other day George and Sue were lollygagging around like two sick kittens.

Translations

dawdle; to avoid work

• Czech: lelkovat (cs), chytat lelky (cs)
• Dutch: lanterfanten (nl), treuzelen (nl)
• French: paresser (fr), glandouiller (fr), glander (fr)
• German: trödeln (de), schlampen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ῥαθυμέω (rhathuméō)

• Polish: bałamucić (pl) impf, zbałamucić (pl) pf
• Russian: безде́льничать (ru) (bezdélʹničatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: ljenčariti (sh), lenstvovati (sh), besposličariti (sh)

Noun

lollygag (countable and uncountable, plural lollygags)

1. (uncountable, US) Silliness, nonsense.

   He likes to do his car up with blacked-out windows, and all that lollygag.

2. (countable, dated, US) A useless or worthless person or thing.

   The lallygag strolls down the road that leads to Failureville.

Translations

silliness

• French: absurdité (fr) f
• German: Unsinn (de) m
• Serbo-Croatian: bedastoća f

References

• Dictionary of American Slang