Sayings and Expressions that begin with the letter "L" from"Labor of love" to "Lying is like being pregnant........"

My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office holders.
Mark Twain 1889

CLICK HERE FOR MUSIC.

LABOR OF LOVE---Something done out of affection or deep interest.---"I enjoy riding the emergency squad, it is a labor of love."---Bible: I Thessalonians 2:3. "We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing you work of faith and labour of love.........."

LAMPOON---To mock; to harass.---"He really got lampooned at his retirement dinner."---Originally came from the French, meaning "let us drink". In France and England students often gathered in public houses for sessions of drinking. Such gatherings were marked by singing bawdy songs about school officials, public officials, and authorities in general. Eventually the broad humor associated with group sessions at the tavern overshadowed the French expression for drinking.

LAND OF GOSHEN---Something really favorable; land of plenty.---"Land of Goshen."---Bible: Genesis 45:10 "And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and ......thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast."

LAND OF MILK AND HONEY---A place or situation full of good things.---"Since he got his raise he is living in the land of milk and honey."---Bible: Exodus 3:8. "And I am come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey."

LARK---A spree; frolic.---"I just did it on a lark."---Probably derived from the Gothic "laikan" to hop or leap.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST---Someone who comes at the end of a list or last to be recognized but is nonetheless important.---John Lyly (1580). Euphues and His England. "Of these three but one can stand me in steede, the last but not the least."

LAST DITCH EFFORT---A struggle made from one's last line of defense.---"I am going to make one last ditch effort to get there."---King William III of England: "I will die in the last ditch."

LAST OF THE MOHICANS---The last surviving representative of a group; the last of anything.---"All his relatives are gone, he is the last of the Mohicans."---James Fenimore Cooper (1826.) Refers to the novel's main character, the Indian chief Uncas.

LAST RESORT---Final place to turn for help.---"I am going to ask Roger tomorrow, he is my last resort."---Sir William Temple (1672). "All government is a restraint upon liberty; and under all the dominion is equally absolute, where it is in the last resort."

LAST ROSE OF SUMMER---Not looking too healthy; looking the worse for the wear.---"You look like the last rose of summer."---Florio (1591). Second Frutes. "The fairest and sweetest rose in time must fade and beauty lose."

LAST STRAW---One thing too much---"That was the last straw, I can't take any more."---Earliest version, Archbishop John Bramhall put it in 1655: "It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back."

LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU, WEEP AND YOU WEEP ALONE---Everybody wants to be around when it's fun. When you have problems nobody does. Fuller (1732). "In time of prosperity friends will be plenty; in time of adversity not one among twenty."

LAUGH OUT OF THE OTHER SIDE OF YOUR MOUTH---To change from mirth to chagrin; exultation to anger.---"When he finds out he will be laughing out the other side of his mouth."---Giovanni Torriano (1666). "The English say, when one hath conveniently reverg'd ones self on another; now you can laugh but on one side of your mouth, friend."

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE---Humor can provide a temporary respite from one's ills; laughter stimulates the release of healing chemicals in the brain.---Joey Adams Strictly for Laughs. New York Post "If laughter was really the best medicine, doctors would have found a way of charging for it."

LAY AN EGG---failed joke or comedic routine---"The comedian just laid another egg. "---When a hen lays an egg she makes a great fuss over it but the other hens pay no attention to her. When a comedian tells a joke and makes a great fuss over it and gets no response he is said to have "laid an egg."

LAY DOWN THE LAW---Issue orders; make dogmatic statements.---"When I get home my wife is going to lay down the law."---John Mirk (1450). Festial. "Holy chirche leyth downe songes of melody as te deum lau. Gloria in excelsis."

LEAD BY THE NOSE---To dominate or order someone about.---"She leads him around by the nose."---Animals are often led around by a rope tied to a ring passing through the septum of the animals nose. Bible: Isaiah 37:29. "Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up to mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."

LEAD PIPE CINCH---Any undertaking where success is certain.---Some urban ruffians of the last century used short length of lead pipe as blackjacks. Such a weapon assured its user that victims would be knocked unconscious. Wielding a lead pipe, a thug was pretty sure to pull off a mugging.

LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS, YOU CAN'T LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE THEM ALL YOURSELF

LEARN THE ROPES---To learn a new job; learn something new.---"She is new at her job, she is still learning the ropes."---Nautical: A new sailor on a sailing vessel would have to learn the many ropes that controlled the sails.

LEAST SAID, SOONEST MENDED---Apologies are useless and any discussion will only make things worse.---(1460.) Remains of Early Poetry.

LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED---Do everything you can; use all your resources.---"I will leave no stone unturned to solve this problem."---Lattimer (1548). Works. "I will leave no stone unturned to have both yo and your brother saved.

LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE---If something is working leave it alone; don't mess with something that is working and try to make it perfect, you will usually break it.---"You had better leave well enough alone before you fix it so it doesn't work at all."---Peacock (1829). Misfortunes of Elphin. "It is well: it works well: let well alone."

LED DOWN THE GARDEN PATH---Deceived: tricked.---"He is being led down the garden path."---Luring someone by deceiving them with beautiful promises. Going down (up) the garden path is beautiful, but what is at the end. Ethel Mannin (1926). Sounding Brass. "They're cheats, that's wot women are! Lead you up the garden an then go snivellin' around 'cos wot's natcheral 'as 'append to 'em."

LEFT IN A LURCH---Abandoned; left far behind.---"Bill didn't show up for work today, he has left me in a lurch."---From the French, lourche, a 16th century game said to have resembled backgammon. To be "in the lurch" was a way of saying a player is far behind. In cribbage, for example, a player who has scored only 31 points when his opponent has scored 61 is said to be in the lurch. Gabriel harvey (1576). Letter Book. "Lest he fall in his reckning and so leave himself in the lurch."

LEFT TO ONE'S OWN DEVICES---On your own; having to work one's own way out of a predicament. ---"I tried to tell the boy, now I will leave him to his own devices."---Ellen Wood (1870). Canterbury's Will. "What would we do, if left to our own devices?"

LEND AN EAR---Listen.---"Lend an ear I have something to tell you."---Shakespeare Julius Caesar. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."

LESS IS MORE---Everything is more elegant, meaningful, and effective when reduced to its most essential form.---Robert Browning (1855.) Andrea del Sarto. "Well, less is more, Lucrenzia: I am judged."

LESSER OF TWO EVILS---The best option when both options are bad.---"I guess I will have to vote for Bush, the lesser of two evils."---Chaucer (1374). Troilus and Criseyde. "Of harmes two, the lesse is for to chese."

LET BYGONES BE BYGONES---Forget the things that happened in the past.---"Let's just let bygones be bygones."---Heywood (1546). Proverbs. "Let all thinges past pas."

LET GEORGE DO IT---Let someone else do it.---Originated in France in the fifteenth century in a satirical reference to the many activities of Cardinal Georges d'Amboise, Archbishop of Rouen and Prime Minister of Louis XII.

LET HIM STEW IN HIS OWN JUICE---He created the problem, so let him suffer for it.---As early as 1300. Jonathan Belcher Papers (1733.) After WWI American soldiers were left in Europe. They wanted to go home, and their common cry was, "Let Europe stew in her own juice."

LET ME BEND YOUR EAR---I am going to tell you something; listen.---"Here comes Joe, he is going to bend your ear for a while."---Earl of Leicester (1586). "I neuer bent my ears to credite a tale that first was tolde mee."

LET ME HAVE A CRACK AT IT---I would like to try; given a fair chance at it.---Old meaning: To be given a fair crack of the whip. To be fairly treated; to be given a fair share of something.

LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE---Don't try to change what seems logical and inevitable; it's folly to meddle with the laws of nature.---Montaigne (1580.) Essays. "Let us permit nature to have her way; she understands her business better than we do.

LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE---Don't stir up a potentially troublesome situation.---"You would be better served if you let sleeping dogs lie."---Geoffrey Chaucer (1374). Troillus and Criseyde. "It is not good a sleping hound to wake."

LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG (See: Pig in a poke)

LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY---Speak your mind or do what you have to do and let the consequences be as they may.---Roscoe Conkling (U.S. Senator) (1880). "He [President Grant] will hew to the line of right, let the chips fall where they may."

LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD---Look to the future and put the past behind you.---Bible: Matthew 8:22. "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."

LET THEM EAT CAKE---Said to show contempt for the plight of those less fortunate than one's self.---Often attributed to Marie Antoinette (1755 - 93.) According to legend, when the notoriously extravagant queen of France was told that her subjects had no bread to eat, she replied: "Qu'ils mangent de la prioche." ("Let them eat cake.")

LET THERE BE LIGHT---Said when something needs illuminated.---Bible: Genesis 1:3. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

LETTER PERFECT---Just right."Her presentation was letter perfect."---In the theater an actor who learns a part perfectly is said to have "got it down to the letter."---Jerome K. Jerome (1885). On the Stage. "He would be letter perfect in all by the following Thursday."

LET'S GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS ---Get to the essentials of a matter.---"Let's stop the small talk and get down to brass tacks."---Stores selling cloth by the yard once measured the length by the use of brass tacks embedded in their counters. Once the merchant had shown the material and the buyer had chosen what he wished to purchase, it was time to measure the cloth and make the sale.

LET'S GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD---Let's get moving.---James Jones (1951.) From Here to Eternity. "Come on, come on," Prew said. "What's holding things up? Lets get this show on the road."

LET'S KILL ALL THE LAWYERS---The first step to a perfect society is to get rid of lawyers.---Shakespeare (1590.) Henry VI. Dick: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

LIFE IS HARD BY THE YARD, BUT BY THE INCH LIFE'S A CINCH.---Take things one at a time.---

new! LIFE OF RILEY---The good life; easy life.---"He won the lottery, he is living the life of Riley now."---Patric Rooney (1880) (song) Is That Mr. Reilly In the song O'Reilly was always just about to hit it big, he and his friends would become rich. It was a working-class Irish immigrant's dream, at a time when an immigrant's lot was often very grim. Transfered to todays meaning of an easy life. On easy street.

LIFE IS LIKE A TURD SANDWICH, THE MORE BREAD YOU HAVE THE LESS SHIT YOU HAVE TO EAT

LIGHTNING NEVER STRIKES TWICE IN THE SAME SPOT---An unusual event never occurs twice under the same circumstances or to the same person.---P. H. Myers (1857.) Thrilling Adventures of the Prisoner of the Border. "Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, nor cannon balls either, I presume."

LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL---Rapidly.---"He was moving like a bat out of hell."

LIKE A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP ---Out of place in a situation; awkward; careless.---"He is like a bull in a china shop, he'll break everything in the house."---Smedley (1800). Frank Fairlegh. "Stigmatising himself as an awkward dog, and comparing himself to a bull in a china shop;"

LIKE A CHICKEN WITH HIS HEAD CUT OFF---Frantic.---"I wish he would settle down he is running around like a chicken with his head cut off."

LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER---Totally out of touch with a situation.---"He is in a situation he knows nothing about, he is like a fish out of water."---Wicliff (1380). Works. "And now they were out of their cloister as fish that is waterless."

LIKE AN ATHEIST AT HIS OWN FUNERAL, ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO---If you believe in God or not and there is no God, you are safe. If you don't believe in God and there is no God, you are safe. If you don't believe in God and there is a God, you are in big trouble.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON---Sons are often like their fathers.---Barclay (1509). Ship of Fools. "An olde prouerbe hath longe agone be sayde that oft the sone in maners lyke wyll be unto the father."

LIKE IT OR LUMP IT---If you don't like it, too bad, you must take it as it is. i.e. take it in a lump.---Courtney (1880). W. Cornwall Words. "If you don't like it you must lump it."

LIKE PEAS IN A POD---All the same.---"Those two are like peas in a pod."

LIKE SHOOTING FISH IN A BARREL

LIKE TALKING TO A BRICK WALL

LIKE WATER OFF A DUCK'S BACK---Maginn (1824). "The thing passed off like water from a duck's back.

LION'S SHARE---The greater part of the whole.---"He ate the lion's share of the dessert."---The Lion usually eats the largest share of a kill and leaves the rest for others. Aesop "Taking th best piece for himself, he said, "This is mine of course, as I am the Lion....."

LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS---Children hear and understand more than you think they do.---The play is the resemblance of the ear to the handle of a pitcher. Heywood (1546). Proverbs. "Auoyd your children, amal pitchers have wide eares."

LIVE AND LEARN---Learn from your experiences.---"He will have to live and learn."---Killigrew (1663). Parson's wedding. "I was innocent myself once, but live and learn is an old saying, and a true one."

LIVE AND LET LIVE---Mind your own business and be respectful of others.---Ray (1678). "Live and let live is the rule of common justice."

LO AND BEHOLD---Would you believe; imagine that.---"I was in the store and lo and behold my old teacher showed up."---Two old words both meaning give heed or look there. Charles Dickens (1850). David Copperfield. "What does he do, but, lo, and behold you, he goes into the perfumer's shop."

LOCK 'EM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY---Put criminals in jail with no hope of ever being released.---"They could solve the crime problem if they would lock the criminals up and throw away the key."

LONG DRINK OF WATER---Tall.---"He certainly is a long drink of water."

LONG LAST---Finally.---"At long last she finally made it."---16th century saying.

LONG SUIT (His, her)---Something an individual is good at.---"Dancing is not his long suit."---In cards, a large number of cards in a particular suit, especially if it is a trump suit, makes for a strong hand.

LONG IN THE TOOTH---Old; aging.---"Paul isn't young anymore, he is getting a little long in the tooth."---As a horse gets older his gums recede making his teeth appear longer.---J.C. Snaith (1919). Love Lane. "One of the youngest Rear Admirals on record, but a bit long in the tooth for the army."

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP---Think about what you are going to do before you do it.---"You had better look before you leap."---Painter (1567). Palace of Pleasure. "According to the common saying: He that loketh not before he leapeth, may caunce to stumble before he sleepeth."

LOOK LIKE A CAT THAT ATE A CANARY---Smug.

LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRUG IN---Looking very bad.---Many cats will bring their prey home and lay them on the doorstep of their owner.

LOOKING DOWN HIS NOSE---Scornful or snobbish.---"She is always looking down her nose at somebody."---What a person giving a haughty glance seems to be doing.---(1927). American Speech. "To scorn or despise."

LOOP HOLE---A means of escape; a means of evading.---"This new law has many loop holes in it."---During the Middle Ages, architects and builders had to deal with the matter of defending a castle. A narrow window, often oval at the top and wider on the inside of a wall than the outside, was found to offer a difficult target to hit from the outside. At the same time, such an opening was big enough to enable defenders to fire a longbow or crossbow from within. When firearms made this obsolete, its name transferred to any opening that provided a way of evading an agreement or law.

LOOSE CANON---Out of control; person who is out of touch with their source of control and may say or do something that will endanger or ruin a mission or project.---"I can't get in touch with him and I know he is going to say something he shouldn't, he is a loose canon."---Nautical term: When a canon got loose on a ship it was unpredictable where it would go or what damage it might do.

LORD LOVE A DUCK

LOUD AND CLEAR---To hear something or someone well.---"You are coming in loud and clear."---Lewis Carroll (1872). Through the Looking Glass. "I said it very loud and clear; I went and shouted in his ear."

LOVE CONQUERS ALL---People who love each other can overcome any obstacle.---Virgil (37 B.C.) Omnia vincit amor.

LOVE IS A MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN TWO FOOLS, AN ABSCESS IN A MAN'S HEART AND A HOLE IN HIS POCKETBOOK

LOVE IS BLIND---When a person is in love they tend not to see the faults of the other.---Chaucer (1386). Merch. Tale. "For love is blind al day, and may nat see."

LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND---The major motivation for all human activity is the search for love.---(1656.) David.

LOVE ME LOVE MY DOG---If you are going to love me you will have to love my dog.---On of my father's favorite sayings.--- (1480). Early Miscell. "He that lovyth me lovyth my hound."

LOVE THEM AND LEAVE THEM---Don't get emotionally involved.---"My daddy always said, love um and leave um is better than to keep um."---Bridge (1917) Cheshire Proverbs. "I must love you and leave you."

LOVE WILL FIND A WAY---Love is a strong emotion.---Deloney (1597). Gentle Craft. "Thus love you see, can find a way to make both men and maids obey."

LOWBROW---Derisive term meaning of low intellegence.---A group of 19th century experimenters developed what t;hey called phrenology, or the study of bumps and shapes of the skull. A person with high brows was judged to be intelligent, while a person with low brows was judged to be less intelligent or ignorant.

LOW MAN ON THE TOTEM POLE---Last in line; the least significant person in an organization.---"When I got to the meeting I was the low man on the totem pole."---The totem pole was constructed by certain American Indian tribes and had a series of carvings of totems (symbols) representing significant events in the history of a family or tribe. Comedian Fred Allen coined the phrase while writing an introduction to a collection of pieces by the American humorist H. Allen Smith. (1941). "If Smith were an Indian, he would be low man on any totem pole."

LUNATIC---Crazy.---"He is a lunatic."---The Romans believed that insane people were "moon struck," and that their insanity increased as the moon waxed full. Luna is the Latin word for "moon."

LYING IS LIKE BEING PREGNANT, SOONER OR LATER PEOPLE ARE GOING TO KNOW

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[HOME]

edited by Linda Clark