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| lothario: A man who seduces women. A man amorously attentive to women: a Don Juan or a lady's man...a Romeo. A careless, light-hearted seducer of women. After Lothario, a character in The Fair Penitent, a play by Nicholas Rowe. Picture him in a shiny suit, pointed-toed shoes, with every hair slicked into place above his leering visage. lounge lizard: A ladies man; a fop; a social parasite. A cheap LOTHARIO. Lounge lizard is a slang term from the early 20th century, William Safire says the expression was coined around 1912 to describe cheapskates who wanted to get in a girl's parlor without first taking her out for a soda and movie. Lucullan: Rich, self-indulgent, opulent. It is an adjective fashioned from the name of the Roman general, Lucius Licinius Lucullus Ponticus (ca. 110 B.C.-56 B.C.). He was successful in war and brought home enough booty to live in great luxury when politics forced him out of his command. Luddites: Opponents of the introduction of labor-saving machinery. The original Luddites, followers of a legendary Ned Ludd, were British laborers of the early nineteenth century who smashed textile-making machines that threatened their jobs. Contemporary opponents of technological change are sometimes called �Luddites.� loose cannon: A dangerously uncontrollable person or thing. The expression comes from naval warfare and predates fixed-turret guns aboard ships. In earlier days, muzzle loading cannons were mounted on wheeled carriages so they could be run in and out of gunports for loading and firing. When not in use they were lashed down. If a cannon came loose, that huge mass of metal careening hither and yon with every roll of the ship was a danger to everyone and everything in its path and to the ship itself. |
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