A Dictionary of Cont..

When little means a small amount or not
much, it is always singular. It is used with a
singular verb and cannot qualify a plural noun.
If we say they gave us little troubles, the word
little inevitably takes on the meaning of small
in size or small in importance. To express the
idea of small in amount with a plural noun, we
must use the word few.
Lesser is the comparative form of little in the
sense of small in value or importance. Less is
the comparative form in the sense of small in
amount. (For the difference in the uses of these
two words, see less; lesser.)
Least is the superlative form for both less and
lesser. At one time it could also be used in the
sense of smallest in size, but this is now extremely
rare. It may be used as an adjective, as
in her least whim, or as an adverb, as in I am
least happy now and with what I most enjoy,
contented least. When the least qualifies a verb,
it means in the least degree. Like the prepositional
phrase, it can be used in a conditional
clause, a question, or a negative statement, but
not in an affirmative statement. We may say if
you are the least worried or I am not the least
worried, but we cannot say I am the least worried.
We may, however, say I am the least bit
worried, because here the least is not an adverb
qualifying the verb but an adjective qualifying
the noun bit, which in turn is functioning as an
adverb.
Lesser is a comparative form made from the
comparative form less and is equivalent to more
smaller. This does not prevent it from being
standard English. On the other hand, the double
superlative the leastest is not standard. But we
may say the least little if we like.
little bird told me. As a way of saying I have
heard something but will not name my informant,
a little bird told me is infantile, a sad attempt
to appear cute.
liturgy. See litany.
live. This verb may be followed by an adjective
describing the subject, as in they lived happy or
they lived poor. It may also be followed by an
adverb describing the verb, as in they lived happily
or they lived poorly. Sometimes there is no
real difference in meaning between the two
forms. See also reside.
live (adjective). In the meanings of alert and of
present interest (He’s a live fellow, that man!
It’s still a live issue in these parts), live is slang,
not standard. The trouble with such uses is that
they are too general. Obviously, an alert man
must be live, but a live man need not be alert,
for alert suggests being live in a certain wayhaving
a ready and prompt attentiveness together
with a quick intelligence.
live audience. Since an audience is an assembly
of hearers or spectators, live audience should
logically be a redundancy. And such it certainly
would have been up until this generation. But it
is an illustration of the strange and rapid ways
that words can change their meanings and, at
the same time, of the irrelevancy of applying
logic to language, that this phrase has a clear
locality
and definite meaning to millions of people today
and fills a need in their speech. In many radio
shows that are heard and even some television
shows that are being seen, the audience, whose
ecstatic delight with the performance is intended
to move the viewers either to join in thoughtlessly
or at least to feel that if they don’t laugh
the fault is theirs, is not there at all. The sounds
are dubbed in from recordings made of genuine
laughter at more amusing shows.
livelong. See lifelong.
lively. See breezy.
lives. This is the plural of life.
living from hand to mouth. As a term for improvidence
or for a complete lack of any store
of necessities, living from hand to mouth is worn
threadbare.
living in clover. As a term for luxurious living
or simply good fortune living in clover or often,
now, merely in clover (both shortenings of living
like pigs in clover, clover being very rich
fodder) is a cliche.
Lloyd’s is a London insurance underwriting corporation,
composed of some three hundred syndicates.
It is so called because it was founded in
the late seventeenth century at Edward Lloyd’s
coffeehouse. It is spelled Lloyd’s, not Lloyds or
Lloyds’.
load. See jag.
load down; load up. In the passive, American
load down equals English load up (He returned
from the New York Public Librarv loaded down
with books. The lorries pulled out of Tilbury
loaded up with ammunition). In the active,
however, an American uses load up (Load up on
that stuff you can grab and let’s get out of here).
Ioadstone; lodestone. Though either form is correct,
loadstone is preferred to lodestone. Lodestar,
however, is preferred to loadstar.
loaf. The plural is loaves.
loan. The use of loan as a verb, as in he loaned
me five dollars, is condemned in Great Britain
as an Americanism. Actually, it is a very respectable
verb. It has been in existence for almost
eight hundred years and was used in an act
of Parliament in 1542. It is thoroughly acceptable
in the United States, especially when used
by bankers or in speaking about money.
loathe. This word may be followed by the -ing
form of a verb, as in 2 loathe washing dishes, or
by an infinitive, as in I loathe to wash dishes.
Both forms are acceptable in the United States.
See also hate.
loaves. This is the plural of loaf.
local habitation and a name. Shakespeare, in a
glorious passage in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, says that the poet’s imagination bodies
forth the forms of things rdnknown and his pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing/
A local habitation and a name. As a term for
anything fixed and definite, the concluding
phrase has been reduced to dreary meaninglessness
by tedious repetition.
locality; location. A locality is a place, spot, or
district, with or without reference to things or
persons in it, viewed in reference to its geo-