"L" Slang

lobster

Internet

Australian slang for the red $20 banknote.

loc

Street

Crip address term, often glossed as 'Love Of Crip'. Used between set members like 'cuz' or 'homie'. Also doubles as shorthand for 'loco' — crazy, down for whatever — which is where some trace it.

local yokel

General

A city or small-town police officer — the lowest tier of bear in the trucker hierarchy. Slightly dismissive: implies they're parochial and out of their depth on the big road.

localism

General

Aggressive, sometimes hostile territorial behavior by local surfers protecting their home break from outsiders.

locals

Internet

On stan Twitter, anyone outside the fandom bubble — regular casual users who don't know the lore, the discography, or who's beefing with who. Used dismissively: 'don't let the locals see this,' 'imagine being a local.' The vibe is half snobbery, half self-aware tribalism.

locho

General

A layabout who avoids work and lives off other people. Also lowcho.

lock in

Internet

To enter intense, distraction-free focus mode on a task or goal.

lock in a sock

Street

A padlock or several placed in a sock and swung to bludgeon someone, a common jailhouse weapon.

lockdown

General

Describes a defender so effective they neutralize the player they guard.

locked

General

As a warning or boast about how drunk someone got.

locked in

Gaming

Being completely focused and committed, in the zone with no distractions. If you're "locked in," you're giving something your full attention and effort.

lockering

Internet

Ditching a date or brushing someone off under the pretext of needing to study or work when you're actually just not interested. A soft, deniable rejection.

locking up

General

Preventing an offensive player from doing what they want; smothering them defensively.

lodd

General

Line-of-duty death. The death of a firefighter as a direct result of the job — fireground trauma, on-scene heart attack, crash on the way to a call, or a job-related cancer years later. Treated with full honours: bagpipes, last alarm, bell ceremony.

log

General

Slang for a longboard, especially a heavy, classic-style one. To 'log' is to ride one.

log off

Internet

A reply telling someone — gently or not — to close the app before they dig their hole deeper. Used when a tweet is so unhinged, so embarrassing, or so cooked that the kindest thing a stranger can do is suggest touching grass. Often appended with 'king' or 'queen' to soften the kill shot.

logo shot

General

A three-point field goal attempted from or near the center-circle logo, extremely far from the basket.

lohbee

General

The hallway. The bit just inside the front door where shoes, coats and abandoned post live. Famous in the line 'Eh've left ma sheen in the lohbee.'

lol

Internet

Stands for "laughing out loud," used to indicate amusement or that something is funny. Over time it has softened into a general marker of lightheartedness rather than literal laughter.

lol in nad

General

Shorthand for an elderly female patient who, after a minor fall or complaint, appears comfortable and might be better cared for at home than admitted.

lolita

Internet

A fashion subculture built on modest, doll-like dresses with petticoats, lace, and bows, drawing on Victorian and Rococo aesthetics; a common sight at anime cons and its own hobby distinct from cosplay.

lolly

General

A sweet or confection; 'lollies' is the general word for candy.

lolly ice

General

The distinctively Scouse word-order version of 'ice lolly'.

lollygag

General

To dally, loiter, or fool around instead of getting on with things.

loml

Internet

An acronym for 'love of my life,' used earnestly for a serious partner or ironically for a crush, a celebrity, or even a favorite snack. Tone varies wildly by context.

lommock

General

A clumsy, awkward person. Affectionate-ish — the kind of word you sling at someone who's just knocked their tea over for the third time. Not a harsh insult, more an exasperated shake of the head.

lonche

General

Spanglish for lunch, especially a bagged or packed one; 'lonchera' is a lunchbox.

london whale

General

Nickname given to Bruno Iksil, a French trader in JPMorgan's London Chief Investment Office whose enormous positions in credit default swap indices became so big they moved the market. When the trade unwound in 2012 the bank took losses estimated at $6.2bn, triggering Senate hearings and regulatory fines.

long

British Mle

Tedious, or more effort than it's worth. If a task is "long", it's a drag.

long drop

General

An outdoor non-flushing toilet over a deep pit, common at baches, campsites and huts.

long shot

General

Espresso pulled long — roughly double the water through the same puck. Bigger volume, more caffeine, more bitter notes because you've pushed the extraction past the sweet spot. The opposite of a ristretto.

looder

General

A loser, fool or awkward person. Munster slang.

look you

General

A tag phrase used to call attention or emphasise a point, roughly 'look here' or 'you see'. Stage-Welsh staple — Shakespeare put it in Fluellen's mouth in Henry V, and it's been doing the rounds in caricatures of Welsh speech ever since. Real speakers do use it, but more sparingly than the telly suggests.

lookback

General

An air trick where the rider whips the rear of the bike out to the side and turns to look back over the frame before straightening out to land. It is a stylish, drawn-out air move.

looks rare

Internet

Bait-comment posted under someone's NFT to fake-flatter the 'rarity' of its traits — usually when the NFT is obviously mid or the whole collection is dying. Half compliment, half roast, fully ironic. The crypto equivalent of saying 'nice' with a straight face.

looksmaxxer

Internet

Can be neutral or mocking depending on how intense the person is.

looksmaxxing

Gen Z

Making a deliberate, all-out effort to improve your physical appearance — grooming, fitness, style and skincare taken to their limit.

loon

General

A boy, a young lad. The north-east Scots counterpart to 'quinie' (girl). Standard Doric — completely neutral, used by everyone from grannies to teachers.

loonie

Internet

Canadian slang for the $1 coin, which pictures a loon.

loop

Gaming

Old-school arcade design. Finish all the stages and the game doesn't end, it loops back to stage 1 at higher difficulty, faster bullets, nastier patterns. The second loop is where the real game often begins for top players.

loop in

General

To bring a person into a discussion or email so they are informed and involved.

loop out

General

To crash by having the front wheel rise too far, sending the bike and rider over backward. It commonly happens when pulling up too hard out of a transition or manual.

loop the loop

General

Soup. Straightforward rhyme, usually kept in full because 'a bowl of loop' doesn't quite land. Borrowed from the aerobatic stunt and the fairground ride of the same name — both were big news when the slang was minted.

loose trucks

General

Trucks with the kingpin loosened so the board turns and carves easily, favored for transition and cruising but less stable at speed.

loose unit

General

A person who behaves in an uncontrolled, reckless or chaotic way, sometimes admiringly.

loosie

General

One cigarette bought loose rather than by the pack, often from a bodega.

loot

Internet

Slang for money or a sizable haul of cash. Originally meant goods taken illicitly or as spoils of war.

lore

Internet

A person's or thing's backstory — the accumulated history and context that explains them. To "drop lore" is to reveal a surprising bit of your past.