Launder (money laundering)
To "launder" money is to make "dirty" money (obtained from illegality) "clean." For example, illegal drug money might be "laundered" through a legal…
Media/Newspapers/Magazines/Internet
Lava Lamp (Hearst Building)
The Hearst Building (at Eighth Avenue and 57th Street) never got finished because of the Depression. However, in 2003, plans were made to finish it with a "lava lamp" skyscraper.…
Lavender Capital of Texas (Blanco nickname)
Blanco calls itself the "Lavender Capital of Texas," trademarked from 2004 and made official by the Texas legislature in 2005. Blanco hosts a Lavender Festival and the Hill Country has a…
Lavender Lake (Gowanus Canal)
The Gowanus Canal (opened in 1866) became so polluted that it was called "Lavender Lake." Recent efforts have been proposed to clean up the area.…
Lavender Set
"Lavender" is/was an LGBTQ nickname, and the term "lavender set" was used for the community. "L.I. cops have started a campaign to rid Fire Island of its lavender set"…
Laws of Accounting (joke)
"The Four Laws of Accounting" (credited to Anonymous) were cited in The New Official Rules: Maxims for Muddling Through to the Twenty-First Century (1989) by Paul Dickson: 1. Trial…
Lawyer Losing Money (“LL.M.” backronym)
A lawyer receives a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree; some lawyers go further for a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. The LL.M. degree has been criticized as useless and overly expensive, but a money-maker…
Lawyer’s Billable Hours (lawyer joke)
A popular lawyer joke about billable hours dates in print to at least the early 1980s. A lawyer died at a young age and complained to St. Peter in heaven that he was taken from the earth too soon.…
Lawyer’s Brain (lawyer joke)
A popular lawyer joke involves the price of a lawyer's brain relative to brains of other professions. The joke has been cited in print since at least 1994 and is of unknown authorship. The…
Layaway
A "layaway" (or "lay-away") plan is one where a customer desires an item and puts a deposit on it, and the retailer "lays the item away" for the customer until the…
Lazy Susan
A "lazy Susan" is a rotating tray, placed upon a dining table for easy use in a diner's access to food (especially condiments). The name "lazy Susan" is cited from at least…
LBJ Law or Lyndon’s Law or LBJ Rule (simultaneous runs for senator and vice president)
Entry in progress--B.P. Wikipedia: Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the thirty-sixth President of the United States,…
Leading from Behind
"Leading from behind" can describe someone who is afraid of the action. In Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, The Gondoliers (1889), it was said of the Duke of Plaza-Toro: "In…
Leaky Roof Circuit (small-time racetracks)
The "leaky roof circuit" (also called the "frying pan circuit") referred to the small-time racetracks in horceracing, but the term was also used in baseball and ice hockey. The…
Leander (summary)
Leander, a city in Williamson and Travis counties of Texas, was founded in 1882 as a stop on the Austin and Northwestern Railroad, and was located near the then-existing town of Bagdad. Leander is…
Leanderite (inhabitant of Leander)
"Leanderite” is the name of an inhabitant of Leander, Texas. The name “Leanderite” has been cited in print since at least 2003. The slang name of "Leanderthal" (Leander +…
Leanderthal (inhabitant of Leander)
"Leanderthal" (Leander + neanderthal) is a slang name for an inhabitant from Leander, Texas. The name was inspired, in part, from the January 1983 discovery of the skeletal remains of the…
Leap Year Capital of the World (Anthony slogan)
Anthony, Texas and Anthony, New Mexico (the so-called "best little town in two states") pronounced itself the "Leap Year Capital of the World" in February 1988. A Leap Year…
Leaping Louie (Prometheus statue in Rockefeller Center)
Prometheus was the Greek god who brought fire to mankind. Paul Manship's statue of him is in Rockefeller Center, just above the skating rink. An early, 1930s-1940s nickname was "Leaping…
Lear Jet Liberal (Learjet Liberal)
"Lear jet liberal" (or "Learjet liberal") is a more modern version of the 1969 New York City term, "limousine liberal." A "Learjet liberal" might be a person…