laconic (adjective)
Of a person, speech, or style of writing, using very few words. (NOA)
Using or involving the use of a minimum of words; concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious. (MW)
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise. Denotes terseness or conciseness in expression, but when applied to people it often implies an unwillingness to use words. (AHD)
Of a person, speech, or style of writing, using very few words. (NOA)
Using or involving the use of a minimum of words; concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious. (MW)
Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise. Denotes terseness or conciseness in expression, but when applied to people it often implies an unwillingness to use words. (AHD)
Using very few words to express what you mean. (CD)
Speech or writing, using few words; neatly concise and to the point. (CHM)
See: pauciloquent, taciturn
See: Note on Terms to Describe Using Few Words
Laffer Curve (economic theory)
Economics: Illustration designed to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by government. Typically represented as a graph that starts at 0% tax with zero revenue, rises to a maximum rate of revenue at an intermediate rate of taxation, and then falls again to zero revenue at a 100% tax rate. (Wikipedia)
See: Art Laffer Explains the Laffer Curve.
laïcité (noun)
lethologica (noun)
The inability to remember a particular word or name. (NOA)
Laffer Curve (economic theory)
Economics: Illustration designed to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by government. Typically represented as a graph that starts at 0% tax with zero revenue, rises to a maximum rate of revenue at an intermediate rate of taxation, and then falls again to zero revenue at a 100% tax rate. (Wikipedia)
See: Art Laffer Explains the Laffer Curve.
laïcité (noun)
Grok:
A French principle that translates roughly to secularism in English, but it encompasses a broader and more specific set of ideas about the separation of church and state. Here's a summary:
Separation of Church and State: At its core, laïcité mandates that the state is neutral in matters of religion, ensuring that public policy does not favor any one religion or belief system over another. This separation was formalized with the 1905 law in France, which established freedom of conscience and freedom to practice religion, while ensuring that the state does not recognize, fund, or subsidize any religion.
Public Neutrality: In public spaces, especially in government institutions like schools, hospitals, and government offices, there's an expectation of religious neutrality. This means that public servants, including teachers and other state employees, are generally not allowed to display religious symbols while working, to maintain this neutrality.
Freedom of Religion: Laïcité is not about suppressing religion but about protecting the freedom of religion or belief for all citizens. It allows individuals to practice their religion privately or in places of worship, but in public spaces, the expression of religion should not interfere with the rights and freedoms of others.
Education: In French public schools, laïcité ensures that education is secular. Religious instruction is not part of the curriculum, although students are allowed to practice their religion outside of school hours. The principle aims to prevent religious influence in education, fostering an environment where students from diverse backgrounds can learn together without religious division.
Controversies and Debates: Laïcité has been at the center of numerous debates, particularly concerning the wearing of religious symbols like the hijab, kippah, or large crosses. Laws have been enacted to ban the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools (2004) and to prohibit face-covering in public spaces (2010), which were seen as expressions of laïcité but have stirred significant controversy regarding personal freedoms versus public secularism.
Cultural and Political Context: Laïcité is often interpreted differently across the political spectrum in France. Some see it as a fundamental value protecting republican ideals, while others criticize it for potentially clashing with multiculturalism or individual rights, especially in a more diverse and globalized France.
Laïcité, therefore, is not just a legal framework but a cultural and philosophical stance that shapes French public life, aiming to balance individual religious freedoms with the secular nature of the state and public institutions.
(Grok)
Note: The problem with French laïcité, is that it completely breaks down when you allow one religion, especially a non-native religion, to ignore its principles.
lethologica (noun)
The inability to remember a particular word or name. (NOA)
The inability to remember a word or put your finger on the right word. (WN)
A psychological term that refers to the state where one cannot remember the word they are trying to think of, often described as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. It's when you have a feeling that the word is just out of reach, but you can't quite retrieve it from memory. (Grok) Lethologica is not classified as a psychological disorder. Instead, it refers to the common experience of struggling to remember a word or name. This phenomenon is generally considered a normal part of language processing and memory function rather than a disorder. (Grok)
leviathan (noun)
The political state, especially a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy. Something large or formidable. (MW)
A psychological term that refers to the state where one cannot remember the word they are trying to think of, often described as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. It's when you have a feeling that the word is just out of reach, but you can't quite retrieve it from memory. (Grok) Lethologica is not classified as a psychological disorder. Instead, it refers to the common experience of struggling to remember a word or name. This phenomenon is generally considered a normal part of language processing and memory function rather than a disorder. (Grok)
leviathan (noun)
The political state, especially a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy. Something large or formidable. (MW)
Any huge or powerful thing. (CDC)
Something or someone that is extremely large and powerful. (CD)
A thing that is very large or powerful, especially a ship. An autocratic monarch or state. (NOA)
Thomas Hobbes: In a modern context, Leviathan symbolizes the need for a strong, centralized government to maintain societal order, prevent chaos, and protect the collective against individual or external threats, all under the framework of a social contract where rights are traded for security. However, this concept also invites contemporary critique regarding the extent of governmental power and the preservation of individual freedoms. (Grok)
See: juggernaut
lexicography (noun)
The editing or making of a dictionary. The principles and practices of dictionary making. (MW)
lexicography (noun)
The editing or making of a dictionary. The principles and practices of dictionary making. (MW)
The process or work of writing, editing, or compiling a dictionary. (AHD)
The activity or job of writing dictionaries. (CD)
The act of writing dictionaries. (VC)
The process or profession of writing or compiling dictionaries. (CDC)
The practice of compiling dictionaries. The activity or occupation of compiling dictionaries. (OD)
lexicographer: An author or editor of a dictionary. (MW) A person who compiles dictionaries. (OD)
libertine (noun and adjective)
noun:
libertine (noun and adjective)
noun:
A person, especially a man, who freely indulges in sensual pleasures without regard to moral principles. A freethinker in matters of religion. (OD)
A person, especially a man, who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, especially in sexual matters. A person who rejects accepted opinions in matters of religion; a freethinker. (NOA)
One who acts without moral restraint; a dissolute person. One who defies established religious precepts; a freethinker. (AHD)
A person, usually a man, who has few moral principles and has sexual relationships with many people. Someone who forms their own opinions and beliefs about religion. (CD)
A freethinker especially in religious matters. A person who is unrestrained by convention or morality, specifically, one leading a dissolute life. (MW)
A dissolute person; usually a man who is morally unrestrained. Someone who lives life unencumbered by morals. (VC)
adjective:
Unrestrained by convention or morality. (VC)
Characterized by free indulgence in sensual pleasures. Freethinking. (OD)
Characterized by a disregard of morality, especially in sexual matters. Freethinking in matters of religion. (NOA)
Morally unrestrained; dissolute. (AHD)
Characterized by a disregard of morality, especially in sexual matters. Freethinking in matters of religion. (NOA)
Morally unrestrained; dissolute. (AHD)
Having few moral principles and having sexual relationships with many people. (CD)
lickspittle (noun)
lickspittle (noun)
A fawning underling; a toady. (AHD)
A flattering or servile person. (CDC)
A fawning subordinate; a suck-up; toady. (MW)
A person who behaves obsequiously to those in power. (NOA)
A person who praises and tries to please people in authority, usually in order to get some advantage from them. (CD)
link rot (noun)
A person who praises and tries to please people in authority, usually in order to get some advantage from them. (CD)
link rot (noun)
Grok: Refers to the phenomenon where hyperlinks on the internet become broken or invalid over time. This typically happens when a webpage is moved, deleted, or the server hosting it goes offline, rendering the URL inaccessible. As a result, the link no longer directs to the intended content, disrupting access to information. It is a common issue in digital preservation, often leading to 404 Not Found errors, and highlights the impermanence of online resources. (Grok)
Medium: Although more rare, there are also deeply sinister, political causes of link rot, like government censorship. Some governments dedicate a huge amount of time and resources to information control, attempting to take down websites to hide information from their citizens. For instance, China’s government has targeted scientific and academic publications extensively for takedowns of specific articles in recent years. Even the USA has been accused of censoring climate change information from government websites for political reasons. (Medium)
See: Note on Government Intentional Link Rot
logophile (noun)
A lover of words. (NOA)
One who appreciates and enjoys words. (AHD)
A person who loves words and language. (CD)
Someone who loves learning about words. Logophiles have a deep interest in words and enjoy adding new ones to their vocabulary. You can call yourself a logophile if you are fascinated by unusual words or get a kick out of digging into a word's origin to see how it relates to other words. (VC)
lollygag or lallygag (verb)
Fool around; dawdle. (MW)
To loiter aimlessly. (CDC)
To waste time by puttering aimlessly; dawdle. (AHD)
To fool around; to dawdle, to dally. (OED)
Spend time aimlessly; idle. Dawdle. (NOA)
Loaf about and waste time; dawdle. To be slow or idle or lazy. (VC)
Spend time aimlessly; idle. Dawdle. (NOA)
Loaf about and waste time; dawdle. To be slow or idle or lazy. (VC)
See: dally, dawdle, dillydally, tarry
See: Note on Terms Describing Wasteful Use of Time
looter (noun)
looter (noun)
Individuals who use force, fraud, or government intervention to take value from others without providing anything of equivalent value in return. Looters exploit the productive efforts of others through coercive means like laws, regulations, or outright theft. They are often portrayed as those in power, including politicians and business leaders who manipulate systems for personal gain, essentially living off the labor and achievements of others. (Grok)
See: moocher
lorem ipsum (noun)
Printing, typography, and graphic design: Placeholder text.
See: moocher
lorem ipsum (noun)
Printing, typography, and graphic design: Placeholder text.
Text consisting of jumbled fragments of Latin words, used as a placeholder in designing the layout of a document. (AHD)
OED: A standard form of sample text, beginning ‘lorem ipsum’, used by compositors and graphic designers to establish or demonstrate the textual layout of a print or electronic document before the content has been finalized. Hence: Any form of boilerplate sample text used in this way. Instances of its inadvertent appearance in publications begin in the late 1960s, suggesting that it began to be widely used in publishing around this time. (OED)
lotus-eater (noun)
A person who leads a life of idle contentment or luxury, untroubled by the working world or by practical concerns; an idle or indolent person, especially one who passes the time pleasantly doing nothing productive. (OED)
OED: A standard form of sample text, beginning ‘lorem ipsum’, used by compositors and graphic designers to establish or demonstrate the textual layout of a print or electronic document before the content has been finalized. Hence: Any form of boilerplate sample text used in this way. Instances of its inadvertent appearance in publications begin in the late 1960s, suggesting that it began to be widely used in publishing around this time. (OED)
EB: Lorem ipsum, placeholder or dummy text used in typesetting and graphic design for previewing layouts. It features scrambled Latin text, which emphasizes the design over content of the layout. It is the standard placeholder text of the printing and publishing industries. The use of placeholder text in web design is often called greeking, bearing the same meaning as the phrase It’s Greek to me to describe something that appears incomprehensible. Hence, Lorem ipsum and other placeholder texts are also known as Greek copy. (EB)
lotus-eater (noun)
A person who leads a life of idle contentment or luxury, untroubled by the working world or by practical concerns; an idle or indolent person, especially one who passes the time pleasantly doing nothing productive. (OED)
Someone who lives a lazy and indulgent life. (CHM)
A lazy person devoted to pleasure and luxury. (AHD)
Someone who has a very comfortable, lazy life and does not worry about anything. (CD)
Someone indifferent to the busy world. (VC)
Someone indifferent to the busy world. (VC)
An indolent person. (MW)
lotusland or lotus land (noun)
Lotus Sutra (scripture)
A central scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, emphasizing that anyone can attain enlightenment. (CDC)
One of the earlier Mahāyāna Buddhist texts venerated as the quintessence of truth by the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren sects. The Lotus Sutra is regarded by many others as a religious classic of great beauty and power and one of the most important and most popular works in the Mahāyāna tradition, the form of Buddhism predominant in East Asia. The sutra, composed largely in verse, has a total of 28 chapters and contains many charms and mantras (sacred chants). (EB)
Chapter-by-chapter outline. (Grok)
lumbersexual (noun)
A young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress (typified by a beard and check/plaid shirt) suggestive of a rugged outdoor lifestyle. (NOA)
A man who lives in a city but has a beard and wears clothes, such as checked shirts, that are typically worn outside in the country by people such as lumberjacks, people whose job is to cut down trees. (CD)
One of the earlier Mahāyāna Buddhist texts venerated as the quintessence of truth by the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren sects. The Lotus Sutra is regarded by many others as a religious classic of great beauty and power and one of the most important and most popular works in the Mahāyāna tradition, the form of Buddhism predominant in East Asia. The sutra, composed largely in verse, has a total of 28 chapters and contains many charms and mantras (sacred chants). (EB)
Chapter-by-chapter outline. (Grok)
lumbersexual (noun)
A young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress (typified by a beard and check/plaid shirt) suggestive of a rugged outdoor lifestyle. (NOA)
A man who lives in a city but has a beard and wears clothes, such as checked shirts, that are typically worn outside in the country by people such as lumberjacks, people whose job is to cut down trees. (CD)
Grok summary: Refers to a fashion and lifestyle trend where individuals, typically urban men, adopt elements of traditional lumberjack or outdoorsman style. Here are some key characteristics:
Fashion: This includes wearing flannel shirts, beards, rugged boots, and sometimes even carrying axes or other wood-working tools as a fashion statement. The look is meant to evoke an image of rugged masculinity with an emphasis on natural, earthy aesthetics.
Lifestyle: Beyond fashion, the term can imply an appreciation for outdoor activities, manual labor, or a more back-to-nature ethos. However, the lumbersexual lifestyle might not necessarily involve actual lumbering activities; it's more about the aesthetic and cultural connotations.
Cultural Context: The trend emerged around the early 2010s and can be seen as a response to or an evolution from the metrosexual trend, focusing instead on a more authentic or self-made appearance, even if this authenticity is somewhat superficial or performative in urban settings.
In essence, lumbersexual describes a modern, urban man who adopts the look and sometimes the attitude of a lumberjack, more as a style choice than a reflection of their actual profession or daily activities. (Grok)
See: metrosexual
lumpia (noun)
Philippines
Philippine spring rolls. (Wikipedia)