just a note

December 02, 2004 03:04 PM

My bus driver this morning used the word “lollygagging,” and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.

lollygagging, lollygagging, lollygagging.

FYI, the verb “to lollygag” dates to the 1860s. Further origins unknown.

And if you’d like to test your etymological knowledge, go here: Etymologic!. It kicked my ass, that’s for sure. No, I’m not telling you my score.

quote to go:

MATT PEACOCK: What’s ‘lollygagging?’
ANGUS STEVENSON: Um, sorry, I can’t remember.
MP: [Laughs] (READS QUOTATION) “An American scofflaw discovered lollygagging with a dandyprat in a roadside inn.”
AS: Yes………
MP: It sounds something bad..

—from “Atrabilious bindlestiffs and lollygagging dandiprats” on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

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