The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Lollygagging


The title has nothing to do with this post. I just like the word... even though I do not understand it. I looked it up just so you won't laugh at me.

lol·ly·gag
ˈlälēˌgag/
verb
North American informal
gerund or present participle: lollygagging
    spend time aimlessly; idle.
    "he sends her to Arizona every January to lollygag in the sun"
      dawdle.
        "we're lollygagging along"


It's weird, a "lolly" is a nickname for "lollipop" and one might reasonably think "lollygagging" is choking on a lollipop. Only it isn't. It's something entirely different and it has nothing whatsoever to do with lollipops and everything to do with laziness and sloth. Now, laziness and sloth are terms near and dear to my heart. I have been practicing these from my earliest days.  That's right, I'm a lollygagger. I have always been one. My mother said I was a month late being born. Apparently, I even lollygagged when it came to that. I can't be sure, even though I was there, I don't recall the event.

Over the years, I became quite adept at it... lollygagging, that is, not being born (that came naturally, I suppose).

Everyone is good at something, they say, and lollygagging is my forte'.


 

4 comments:

Tom said...

Here is the email I recently got from my contact at work, for whom I sometimes do some freelancing (he's my age, but stubbornly not thinking about retirement): "Are you done lollygagging? I'll have a job for you in a week or two."

Douglas said...

It's nice to see that the word is still being used. It was one of my mother's favorite words.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

Isn't "lollygag" a synonym for "diddle"?

Douglas said...

Tal, yes... that is one of the definitions for "diddle." I just can't get rid of the image of a kid with a lollipop stuck in his throat.