密歇根新闻广播 "lollygag"一词的历史

 

Lollygagging, screwing around, goofing¹ off, whatever you call it, we can all agree there a lot of ways to talk about wasting time in English.

Kalen, who previously² asked us about "druthers," says "I tell my kids all the time to not lollygag, doodle or dilly dally³. They are fun words, to be sure, but where do they come from?"

They are most definitely fun words. But watch out for "lollygag." It seems innocent at first, but then things get kind of racy.

"Lollygag," also known historically as "lallygag," comes into English in the mid-19th century meaning to dawdle⁴. However, at that time, "lollygag" also meant to fool around.

Yes, that kind of fooling around.

Check out this awesome⁵ line that appeared in an Iowa newspaper in 1868: "The lascivious⁶ lollygagging lumps of licentiousness⁷ who disgrace the common decencies of life by their love-sick fawnings at our public dances."

Another great line from 1949 appears in the Oxford⁸ English Dictionary: "Lollygagging was grandmother's word for love-making." Today "lollygag" means to idle or dawdle, though we're guessing that some of you may now be having second thoughts about using it.

That's OK, we've got other words for wasting time. For example, the verb "doodle" can mean to draw or scribble⁹ but in an aimless, time-wasting manner. When you think about it that way, it makes sense that "doodle" can also mean to dawdle.

We've also got "dilly-dally." The base word "dally" came in from Old French hundreds of years ago and meant to chat idly. Over time "dally" picked up other meanings such as to toy with things or spend time idly.

By the 19th century we get "dilly dally." "Dilly dally" is an example of reduplication. That's when you repeat the form of a word but change the vowel¹⁰. Other examples of reduplication include "flip¹¹ flop," "zig zag," and "mish mash¹²."

Do you have other words for wasting time? Let us know below.

1 goofing   

v.弄糟( goof的现在分词 )；混；打发时间；出大错

参考例句：

• He should have been studying instead of goofing around last night. 他昨晚应该念书，不应该混。 来自走遍美国快乐40招
• Why don't you just admit you're goofing off? 偷了懒就偷了赖，还不爽爽快快承认？ 来自辞典例句

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 dally   

v.荒废(时日)，调情

参考例句：

• You should not dally away your time.你不应该浪费时间。
• One shouldn't dally with a girl's affection.一个人不该玩弄女孩子的感情。

4 dawdle   

vi.浪费时间；闲荡

参考例句：

• Don't dawdle over your clothing.You're so beautiful already.不要再在衣着上花费时间了，你已经够漂亮的了。
• The teacher told the students not to dawdle away their time.老师告诉学生们别混日子。

5 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

6 lascivious   

adj.淫荡的，好色的

参考例句：

• I was there to protect her from the importunities of lascivious men.我在那里保护她,不受那些好色男子的纠缠不休。
• In his old age Cato became lascivious and misconducted himself with a woman slave.到了晚年,卡托沉溺于女色,跟一个女奴私通。

7 licentiousness   

n.放肆，无法无天

参考例句：

• Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness. 没有法律，自由也同样名实具亡，就是无法无天。

8 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

9 scribble   

v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文

参考例句：

• She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
• I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

10 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

11 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

12 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。