Chapter L

LA, _m._ (familiar), donner le ----, _to give the tone_.

LABADENS (theatrical), _old school-fellow_.

Depuis le vaudeville amusant de Labiche (l’affaire de
la Rue de Lourcine) qui a mis ce terme à la mode, il a
pris, avec le procès Bazaine, une valeur historique.
Quand Régnier voulut en effet être mis en la présence du
maréchal, il se fit annoncer ainsi: “Dites que c’est un
vieux Labadens.”--=LORÉDAN LARCHEY.=

LABAGO (thieves’), _is equivalent to_ là-bas, _yonder_. Gaffine ----, la riflette t’exhibe, _look yonder, the spy has his eye on you_.

LÀ-BAS (prostitutes’), _the Saint-Lazare prison, a place of confinement for prostitutes who offend against the law, or are detected plying their trade without due authorization of the police_; (thieves’) _the convict settlement in New Caledonia or at Cayenne_.

LABORATOIRE, _m._ (eating-house keepers’), _the kitchen_, a place where food is often prepared by truly chemical processes; hence the appellation.

L’ABSINTHE NE VAUT RIEN APRÈS DÎNER (printers’), _words used ruefully by a typo to express his bitter disappointment at finding, on returning from dinner, that he has corrections of his own to attend to_.

Dans cette locution, on joue sur “l’absinthe,” considérée
comme breuvage et comme plante. La plante possède une
saveur “amère.” Avec quelle “amertume” le compagnon
restauré, bien dispos, se voit obligé de se “coller” sur le
marbre pour faire un travail non payé, au moment où il se
proposait de pomper avec acharnement. Déjà, comme Perrette,
il avait escompté cet après-dîner productif.--=BOUTMY.=

LAC, _m._ (thieves’), être dans le ----, _to be very_ “hard up;” _to be in a fix or in trouble, in a_ “hole.” Mettre dans le ----, _to deceive_, _to make one fall into a trap_. (Gamesters’) Mettre dans le ----, _to lose all one’s money_, _to have_ “blewed” _it_.

Au cercle, où la conversation vient de rouler sur la
mort tragique du roi de Bavière, un ponte perd un louis
au baccarat, en tirant à cinq:--allons, dit-il d’un air
résigné, encore un louis dans le lac!--_Le Voltaire_, Juin,
1886.

In the above quotation an allusion is made to Louis, King of Bavaria, who committed suicide.

LACETS, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _handcuffs_, or “bracelets.” Marchand or solliceur de ----, _gendarme_.

LÂCHAGE, _m._ (popular), _the act of forsaking one_.

LÂCHE, _m._ (popular), Saint ----, _lazy workman_; _one who likes to lounge about, who is_ “Mondayish.” Réciter la prière de Saint ----, _to sleep_, or “to doss.”

LÂCHER (popular), les écluses, son écureuil, or une naïade, _to void urine_, or “to pump ship.” Termed also “changer ses olives d’eau, lascailler, écluser, faire le petit, changer son poisson d’eau, faire pleurer son aveugle, lancer, quimper la lance, gâter de l’eau, arroser les pissenlits;” ---- une pastille, _to break wind_; (familiar and popular) ---- d’un cran, _to leave one_; _to rid him of one’s presence_; ---- la perche, _to die_; ---- les écluses, _to weep_, _to blubber_, “to nap a bib;” ---- le coude, _to leave one alone_.

Lâchez-nous donc le coude avec votre politique!
cria le zingueur. Lisez les assassinats, c’est plus
rigolo.--=ZOLA=, _L’Assommoir_.

Lâcher le paquet, _to disclose_.

Et Madame Lerat, effrayée, répétant qu’elle n’était même
plus tranquille pour elle, lâcha tout le paquet à son
frère.--=ZOLA=, _L’Assommoir_.

Lâcher la mousseline, _to snow_.

Le ciel restait d’une vilaine couleur de plomb, et la
neige, amassée là-haut, coiffait le quartier d’une calotte
de glace.... Gervaise levait le nez en priant le bon Dieu
de ne pas lâcher sa mousseline tout de suite.--=ZOLA=,
_L’Assommoir_.

Lâcher une femme, _to break off one’s connection with a mistress_, “to bury a moll;” ---- un cran, _to undo a button or two after dinner_. Se ---- d’une somme, _to spend reluctantly a sum of money_. (Theatrical) Lâcher la rampe, _to die_, see PIPE; (thieves’) ---- un pain, _to give a blow_, or “wipe.” (General) Se ----, Rigaud says: “Produire en société un bruit trop personnel.”

LACROMUCHE, _m._ (popular), _women’s bully_, or “Sunday man.” For synonymous expressions see POISSON.

LAFARGER (popular), _to poison_. An allusion to the celebrated Lafarge poisoning case.

LAFFE, _f._ (thieves’), _soup_.

LAGAD-IJEN (Breton cant), _five-franc piece_.

LAGO (thieves’), _there_. Gaffine ---- le pante se fait la débinette, _look there, the_ “cove” _is running away_.

LAGOUT, _m._ (thieves’), _water_ (“agout” with the article).

LAIGRE, _f._ (thieves’), _fair_; _market_. Michel says this word is no other than the adjective “alaigre,” of which the initial letter has disappeared.

LAINE, _f._ (tailors’), _work_, “graft.” Avoir de la ----, _to have some work to do_. (Thieves’) Tirer la ----, _was formerly the term for stealing cloaks from the person_; hence the old expression tire-laine, _thief who stole cloaks_.

LAINÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _sheep_, or “wool-bird.”

LAISÉE, _f._ (thieves’ and roughs’), _prostitute_, or “bunter.” See GADOUE.

LAISSER (familiar and popular), aller le chat au fromage (obsolete), _is said of a girl who allows herself to be seduced, who loses her rose_; ---- tomber son pain dans la sauce (obsolete), _to manage matters so as to get profit out of some transaction_; ---- ses bottes quelque part, _to die_. The expression is found in Le Roux’s _Dict. Comique_. Laisser fuir son tonneau, _to die_, “to kick the bucket.” See PIPE. Laisser pisser le mérinos, _to wait for one’s opportunity_. Synonymous of Laisser pisser le mouton, a proverbial saying.

LAIT, _m._ (thieves’), à broder, _ink_. (Theatrical) Boire du ----, _to be applauded_.

A peine le couplet est-il chanté, au milieu des
applaudissements payés, que Biétry ... salue ... tous les
applaudisseurs ... il n’est pas le seul, ce soir-là, à
boire du lait, comme on dit en style de théâtre.--_Mémoires
de Monsieur Claude._

LAÏUS (familiar), _speech, or discourse_. Piquer un ----, _to make a speech_.

LAMBIASSE, _f._ (popular), _rags_.

LAME, _f._ (military), vieille ----! _old chum!_

LAMINE (thieves’), _Le Mans_, a town.

LAMPAGNE DU CAM, _f._ (thieves’), _country_, or “drum.” It is the word “campagne” itself disguised in the following way. The first consonant is replaced by the letter l, and the word is followed by its first syllable preceded by “du” (Richepin). English thieves and gypsies have a similar mode of distorting words, termed gibberish; called also pedlar’s French, St. Giles’s Greek, and the Flash tongue. Gibberish means a kind of disguised language formed by inserting any consonant between each syllable of an English word, in which case it is called the gibberish of the letter inserted; if F, it is the F gibberish; if G, the G gibberish; as in the sentence, How do you do? Howg dog youg dog?

LAMPAS, _m._ (common), _throat_, or “red lane.”

Pour l’histoire de s’assurer de la qualité du liquide et
s’arroser le lampas.--=LADIMIR.=

LAMPE, _f._ (freemasons’), _drinking-glass_.

LAMPIE, _f._ (thieves’), _meal_. From lamper, _to gulp down_.

LAMPION, _m._ (thieves’), _hat_; _bottle_; ---- rouge, _police officer_, “copper, or reeler.” For synonymous expressions see POT-À-TABAC.

LAMPIONS, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _eyes_, or “glaziers,” see MIRETTES; ---- fumeux, _inflamed eyes_. Des ----! Des ----! _a call expressive of the impatience of a crowd, or rough elements of an audience, and made more forcible by stamping of feet_.

LANCE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _water_, or “Adam’s ale;” _rain_, or “parney.”

C’est gagné! faites servir! six litres de vin! six litres
sans lance!--_Catéchisme Poissard._

This word is “ance” with the article. Michel says, “_ance_ vient du terme de la vieille germania espagnole (Spanish cant) _ansia_, qui lui-même est une apocope d’_angustia_; en effet l’eau était un instrument de torture fort employé autrefois.” Il tombe de la ----, _it rains_. Lance, _broom_; _shoemaker’s awl_. Chevalier de la courte ----, or de Saint-Crépin, _shoemaker_, or “snob.” Du chenu pivois sans ----, _good wine without water_. Lance had formerly the same signification as FLAGEOLET, which see.

LANCÉ, _m. and adj._ (popular), _agile play of dancers’ legs at dancing halls_.

Paul a un coup de pied si vainqueur et Rigolette un si
voluptueux saut de carpe! Les spectateurs s’intéressaient à
cet assaut de lancé vigoureux.--=VITU.=

(Familiar) Lancé, _slightly intoxicated_, or “elevated.” See POMPETTE.

LANCEQUINER (popular), _to rain_; _to weep_; _to void urine_.

LANCER (thieves’), _to void urine_. See LÂCHER. (Popular) Lancer son prospectus, _to ogle_.

LANCEUR, _m._ (familiar), bon ----, _bookseller who is clever at making known to the public a new publication_, “un étouffeur” _being the reverse_. (Police) Lanceur allumeur, _a politician, generally a journalist, in the employ of the police of the Third Empire_. His functions consisted in exciting people to rebellion either by inflammatory speeches at public meetings or by violent articles.

On appelle allumeurs, en termes de police, les agents
provocateurs chargés de se mêler aux sociétés secrètes,
aux manifestations populaires.... Les allumeurs furent
créés sous l’empire; ils devinrent, sous la direction
de M. Lagrange, la fleur du panier de la préfecture. Ce
fonctionnaire fut lui-même ... avec un nommé P. le metteur
en œuvre du complot de l’Opéra-Comique ... qui aboutit à
cinquante-sept arrestations ... et finit par mettre sur la
défensive tous les républicains.--_Mémoires de Monsieur
Claude._

LANCEUSE, _f._ (familiar), _superannuated cocotte who acts as the chaperone of a younger one_.

LANCIER, _m._ (thieves’ and cads’), _individual_, or “cove.”

Que’qu’ j’y foutrai dans la trompette,
A c’ lancier-là, s’il vient vivant?

=RICHEPIN.=

Lancier du préfet, _street-sweeper in the employ of the municipal authorities_.

LANCIERS, _m. pl._ (popular), oui, les ----! _nonsense!_ “tell that to the marines!” “how’s your brother Job?” or “do you see any green in my eye?”

LANDAU À BALEINES, _m._ (popular), _umbrella_, “mush, or rain-napper.”

LANDERNAU, _m._ (familiar), _name of a small town in Brittany_. Il y aura du bruit dans ----, _is said of an insignificant event which will set going the tongues of people who have nothing else to do_. The expression has passed into the language.

LANDIER, _m. and adj._ (thieves’), official of the octroi. The “octroi” is the office established at the gates of a town for the collection of a tax due for the introduction of certain articles of food or drink. (Thieves’) Landier, _white_.

LANDIÈRE, _f._ (old cant), _stall at a fair_.

On sait que le Landit était une foire célèbre qui se tenait
à Saint-Denis.--MICHEL.

LANDREUX, _adj._ (popular), _invalid_.

LANGOUSTE, _f._ (popular), _simpleton_, _greenhorn_, “flat.”

LANGUE, _f._ (familiar), verte, _slang of gamesters_. Also _slang_. The expression is Delvau’s. (Popular) Avaler sa ----, _to die_, “to kick the bucket.” See PIPE. Prendre sa ---- des dimanches, _to use choice language_. (Familiar and popular) Une ---- fourrée, _lingua duplex, id est quum basiis lingua linguæ promiscetur_ (=RIGAUD=).

LANGUINEUR, _m._ (popular), _man whose functions are to examine the tongues of pigs at the slaughter-house to ascertain that they are not diseased_.

LANSQUAILLER (thieves’). See LASCAILLER.

LANSQUE (popular), abbreviation of lansquenet.

LANSQUINAGE, _m._ (thieves’), _weeping_.

LANSQUINE, _f._ (thieves’), _rain_, or “parny.”

Aussi j’suis gai quand la lansquine,
M’a trempé l’cuir, j’ m’essuie l’échine
Dans l’vent qui passe et m’fait joli.

=RICHEPIN.=

Lansquiner (thieves’ and cads’), _to rain_; ---- des chasses, _to weep_, “to nap a bib.”

LANTEOZ (Breton cant), _butter_.

LANTERNE, _f._ (popular), _window_, “jump.” Radouber la ----, _to talk_, _to tattle_. The expression is old. Avoir la ----, or se taper sur la ----, _to be hungry_, “to be bandied, or to cry cupboard.” Vieille ----, _old prostitute_. See GADOUE. (Popular) Lanternes de cabriolet, _large goggle eyes_.

Oh! c’est vrai! t’as les yeux comme les lanternes de ton
cabriolet.--=GAVARNI.=

LANTIMÈCHE, _m._ (popular), _lamp-lighter_; _also a word equivalent to_ “thingumbob.” Il a filé avec ---- pour mener les poules pisser, _a derisive reply to one inquiring about the whereabouts of a person_.

LANTURLU, _m._ (popular), _madcap_.

LAOU PHARAOU (Breton cant), _body lice_.

LAPIN, _m._ (popular), _apprentice_. Des lapins, _shoes_, or “trotter-cases.” (Familiar and popular) Lapin, _a clever or sturdy fellow_.

Ah! tu es un lapin! ... lui disaient tous ceux qu’il
abordait, il paraît que tu viens de faire une fameuse
découverte! on parle de toi pour la croix!--=E. GABORIAU=,
_M. Lecoq_.

Etre en ----, _to ride by the side of the coachman_. Un ---- de gouttière, _cat_, or “long-tailed beggar.” Coller or poser un ----, _to deceive_, _to take in_, “to bilk.” It is said the expression draws its origin from the practice of certain sportsmen who used to invite themselves to dinner at some friend’s house in the country, and repaid their host by leaving a rabbit as a compensation. The _Slang Dictionary_ says that when a person gets the worst of a bargain he is said “to have bought the rabbit,” from an old story about a man selling a cat to a foreigner for a rabbit. With reference to deceiving prostitutes the act is described in the English slang as “doing a bilk.”

Je vous demande pardon, mais le vocable est consacré.
“Poser un lapin” fut longtemps une définition malséante,
bannie des salons où l’on cause. Maintenant, elle est
admise entre gens de bonne compagnie, et le lapin cesse,
dans les mots, de braver l’honnêteté.--=MAXIME BOUCHERON.=

Un fameux, or rude ----, _a strong fearless man_, _one who is_ “spry.”

L’homme qui me rendra rêveuse pourra se vanter d’être un
rude lapin.--=GAVARNI.=

Also _a man who begets many children_. Voler au ----, or étouffer un ----, _is said of a bus conductor who swindles his employers by pocketing part of the fares_. Mon vieux ----! _old fellow!_ “old cock!” (Thieves’) Lapin ferré, _mounted gendarme_. (Printers’) Manger un ----, _to attend a comrade’s funeral_.

Cette locution vient sans doute de ce que, à l’issue de
la cérémonie funèbre, les assistants se réunissaient
autrefois dans quelque restaurant avoisinant le cimetière
et, en guise de repas de funérailles, mangeaient un lapin
plus ou moins authentique.--=BOUTMY.=

Concerning this expression, there is an anecdote of a typo who was lying in hospital at the point of death, and who informed his sorrowing friends that he would try and wait till the Friday morning, so that they might have all the Saturday and Sunday for the funeral feast.

Je tâcherai d’aller jusqu’à demain soir ... parceque les
amis auraient ainsi samedi et dimanche pour boulotter mon
“lapin.” Cela ne vaut-il pas le “plaudite!” de l’empereur
Auguste, ou le “Baissez le rideau, la farce est jouée!” de
notre vieux Rabelais?--=BOUTMY.=

(Familiar and popular) C’est le ---- qui a commencé _is said ironically in allusion to a difference or fight between a strong man and a weak one, when the latter is worsted and blamed into the bargain_. A cartoon of the late artist Gill, on the occasion of the assassination of Victor Noir by Pierre Bonaparte in the last days of the Third Empire, depicted the two principal actors in that mysterious affair under the features of a fierce bull-dog and a rabbit, with the saying, “C’est le lapin qui a commencé,” for a text line.

LAPINER (general), _to cheat a prostitute by not paying her her dues_.

LAQUEUSE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _cocotte who walks in the vicinity of the lake at the Bois de Boulogne_. See GADOUE.

LARANTQUÉ, _m._ (popular and thieves’), _two-franc coin_.

LARBIN, _m._ (general), _man-servant_, _footman_, “flunkey,” or “bone-picker.”

Le savoureux Lebeau ... ancien valet de pied aux Tuileries,
laissait voir le hideux larbin qu’il était, âpre au gain et
à la curée.--=A. DAUDET=, _Les Rois en Exil_.

(Popular) Larbin savonné, _knave of cards_.

LARBINE, _f._ (popular), _maid-servant_, “slavey.”

LARBINERIE, _f._ (familiar), _set of servants_, “flunkeydom, or flunkeyism.”

LARCOTTIER, _m._ (old cant), _one who yields too often to the promptings of a well-developed bump of amativeness_, a “beard-splitter.”

LARD, _m._ (popular), _disreputable woman_; _mistress_; _skin, or body_. Sauver son ----, _to save one’s_ “bacon.” Perdre son ----, _to become thin_. Faire son ----, _to put on a conceited look_. (General) Faire du ----, _to lie in bed of a morning_. (Thieves’) Manger du ----, _to inform against_, “to turn snitch.”

LARDA (Breton cant), _to beat_.

LARDÉ, _m._ (popular), un ---- aux pommes, _mess of potatoes and bacon_.

Au prix où sont les lardés aux pommes aux trente-neuf
marmites.--_Tam-Tam_ du 6 Juin, 1880.

LARDÉE, _f._ (printers’), _composition full of italics and roman_.

LARDER (obsolete), explained by quotation:--

Terme libre, qui signifie, faire le déduit, se divertir
avec une femme.--=LE ROUX=, _Dict. Comique_.

(Popular and military) _to pierce with a sword or knife_. Se faire ----, _to be stabbed or to receive a sword-thrust_.

LARDIVES, _f. pl._ (prostitutes’), _female companions of prostitutes_.

Après tout, mes lardives ne valent pas mieux que moi
et leurs megs valent le pante que j’ai lâché parcequ’il
m’embêtait.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

LARDOIRE, _f._ (popular), _sword_, or “toasting fork.”

LARGE, _adj. and m._ (popular), il est ----, mais c’est des épaules _is said ironically of a close-fisted man_. N’en pas mener ----, _to be ill at ease_; _crest-fallen_. Envoyer quelqu’un au ----, _to send one to the deuce_.

LARGONJI, _m._ (thieves’), _cant_, _slang_. Properly the word jargon disguised by a process described under the heading LAMPAGNE (which see).

LARGUE, _f._ (popular and thieves’), _woman_, “hay-bag, cooler, shakester, or laced mutton.” Concerning the word Michel says: “Je crains bien qu’une pensée obscène n’ait présidé à la création de ce mot: ce qui me le fait soupçonner, c’est que je lis, p. 298 du livre d’Antoine Oudin, ‘Loger au large, d’une femme qui a grand ... or, large se prononçait largue à l’italienne et à l’espagnole dès le xivᵉ siècle.’”

Deux mots avaient suffi. Ces deux mots étaient: vos largues
et votre aubert, vos femmes et votre argent, le résumé de
toutes les affections vraies de l’homme.--=BALZAC.=

Largue, _mistress_, or “poll;” ---- d’altèque, _handsome woman_, or “dimbermort;” ---- en panne, _forsaken woman_, or a “moll that has been buried;” ---- en vidange, _female in childbed_, or “in the straw.” Balancer une ----, _to forsake a mistress_, “to bury a moll.” (Sailors’) Grand’ ----, _excellent_, “out and out.” C’est grand’ ---- et vrai marin, _it is_ “out and out,” _and quite sailor-like_.

LARGUEPÉ, _f._ (thieves’), _prostitute, or thief’s wife_, “mollisher.” See GADOUE. According to Michel this word is formed of largue, _woman_, and putain, _whore_.

LARME DU COMPOSITEUR, _f._ (printers’), _comma_.

LARNAC, ARNAC, or ARNACHE, _m._ (thieves’), _police officer_, “copper,” or “reeler.” Rousse à l’----, _detective_. For synonymous expressions see VACHE.

LARQUE, _f._ (roughs’), _woman_, or “cooler;” _registered prostitute_. A corruption of largue. See GADOUE.

LARRONS, _m. pl._ (printers’), _odd pieces of paper which adhere to sheets in the press, producing_ “moines” _or blanks_.

LARTIF, LARTIE, LARTON, _m._ (thieves’), _bread_, “pannum.” Termed also “briffe, broute, pierre dure, artie, arton, brignolet, bringue, boule de son, bricheton.”

LARTILLE À PLAFOND, _f._ (thieves’), PASTRY.

LARTIN, _m._ (old cant), _beggar_, “maunderer.”

LARTON, _m._ (thieves’), _bread_, “pannum;” ---- brutal, _black bread_; ---- savonné, _white bread_.

LARTONNIER, _m._ (thieves’), _baker_. From larton, _bread_. In the English popular lingo a “dough-puncher.”

LASCAILLER (thieves’), _to void urine_, “to pump ship.” For synonyms see LÂCHER.

LASCAR, _m._ (military), _bold, devil-may-care fellow_. Allons, mes lascars! _now, boys!_

Alors il se frottait les mains, faisait des blagues,
ricanait: Eh! eh! mes lascars, il y a du bon pour le
“chose,” ce soir!--=G. COURTELINE.=

The term is also used disparagingly with the signification of _bad soldiers_.

Là-dessus, en arrière, à droite, et à gauche ... marche! A
vos écuries, tas de lascars.--=G. COURTELINE.=

(Thieves’) Lascar, _fellow_.

Tous les lascars à l’atelier pouvaient turbiner à leur gré.
Moi, je n’avais pas plus tôt le dos tourné à mon ouvrage
pour grignoter mon lartif (pain) ou pour chiquer mon
Saint-père (tabac), que le louchon était sur mon dos pour
m’écoper.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

LAS DE CHIER, _m._ (popular), grand ----, _big skulking fellow without any energy_.

LATEN (Breton slang), _tongue_.

LATENNI (Breton slang), _to chatter_.

LATIF, _m._ (thieves’), _white linen_, “lully,” or “snowy.”

LATIN, _m._ (thieves’), _lingo_, _cant_, “flash, thieves’ Latin.” The word meant formerly _language_.

LATINE, _f._ (students’), _student’s mistress_. From “Quartier Latin,” a part of Paris where students mostly dwell.

LATTE, _f._ (military), _cavalry sword_. Se ficher un coup de ----, _to fight a duel_.

LAUMIR (old cant), _to lose_, “to blew.”

LAUNE, _m._ (thieves’), _police officer_, or “copper.” For synonymous expressions see POT-À-TABAC.

LAURE, _f._ (thieves’), _brothel_, “nanny-shop, or academy.” Concerning the inmates of a clandestine establishment of that description in London, Mr. James Greenwood says:--

They belong utterly and entirely to the devil in human
shape who owns the den that the wretched harlot learns to
call her “home.” You would never dream of the deplorable
depth of her destitution if you met her in her gay attire
... she is absolutely poorer than the meanest beggar that
ever whined for a crust. These women are known as “dress
lodgers.”--_The Seven Curses of London_.

LAVABE, _m._ (popular), _note of hand_; _theatre ticket at reduced price given to people who in return agree to applaud at a given signal_.

LAVAGE, _m._, or LESSIVE, _f._ (general), _sale of one’s property_; also _sale of property at considerable loss_.

Barbet n’avait pas prévu ce lavage; il croyait au talent de
Lucien.--=BALZAC.=

LAVARÈS (thieves’), for laver, _to sell stolen property_. Nous irons à lavarès la camelote chez le fourgueur, _we will go and sell the property at the receiver’s_.

LAVASSE, _f._ (popular), _soup_; ---- sénatoriale, _rich soup_; ---- présidentielle, _very rich soup_.

LAVEMENT, _m._ (popular), au verre pilé, _glass of rank brandy_; (familiar and popular), _troublesome man or bore_; (military) _adjutant_.

LAVER (general), _to spend_; _to sell_.

Vous avez pour quarante francs de loges et de billets
à vendre, et pour soixante francs de livres à laver au
journal.--=BALZAC.=

(Thieves’) Laver la camelote, or les fourgueroles, _to sell stolen property_, “to do the swag;” ---- son linge, _to give oneself up after sentence has been passed in contumaciam_; ---- le linge dans la saignante, _to kill_.

Voici le pante que j’ai allumé devant le ferlampier
(bandit) mis au poteau,--il faut laver son linge dans la
saignante. Vite; à vos surins, les autres! Une fuis qu’il
sera refroidi, qu’on le porte à la cave.--_Mémoires de
Monsieur Claude_.

Se ---- les pieds, se ---- les pieds au dur, or au grand pré, _to be transported_, “to be lagged,” or “to light the lumper.” (Popular) Se ---- les yeux, _to drink a glass of white wine in the morning_. Se ---- le tuyau, _to drink_, “to wet one’s whistle.” Va te ----! _go to the deuce_, _go to_ “pot!” Mon linge est lavé! _I am beaten_, _I own I have the worst of it_. (General) Laver, _to sell_.

LAVETTE, _f._ (popular), _tongue_, or “red rag.”

LAVOIR, _m._ (cads’), _confessional_. A place where one’s conscience is made snow-white. (Familiar) Lavoir public, _newspaper_.

L’AVOIR ENCORE (popular). Elle l’a encore, _she has yet her maidenhead_, _her rose has not yet been plucked_.

LAZAGNE, or LAZAGEN, _f._ (thieves’), _letter_, “screeve, or stiff.”

On appelle lasagna, en Italien, une espèce de mets de
pâte, et l’on dit proverbialement “come le lasagne,” comme
les lasagnes, ni endroit ni envers, pour dire, on ne
sait ce que c’est. On comprend que, ignorants comme ils
le sont pour la plupart, les gueux aient appliqué cette
expression aux lettres, qui, d’ailleurs, sont loin d’être
toujours lisibles. Il y a aussi des livres appelés “di
lasagne.”--=MICHEL.=

Balancer une ----, _to write a letter_.

LAZARO, _m._ (military), _prison_, “shop.”

Il lui avait ouvert la porte du cachot ... au fond il se
moquait pas mal d’être flanqué au lazaro.--=G. COURTELINE.=

LAZO-LIGOT, _m._ (police), _strap with a noose_.

Et Col-de-zinc, à l’aspect si raide, avait l’agilité du
Mexicain pour jeter le lazo-ligot, pour entourer d’un seul
coup le corps et le poignet de son sujet de façon à ce que
la main restât attachée à sa hanche.--_Mémoires de Monsieur
Claude._

LAZZI-LOF, _m._ (thieves’), _venereal malady._ Termed “French gout,” or “ladies’ fever,” in the English slang.

LÈCHE-CURÉ, _m._ (popular), _bigot_, “prayer-monger.”

LÉCHÉE, _f._ (artists’), _picture minutely painted_.

LÉGITIME, _m. and f._ (familiar), _husband_, or “oboleklo;” _wife_, or “tart.” Manger sa ----, _to squander one’s fortune_.

LÉGUME, _m._ (military), gros ----, _field officer_, or “bloke.” An allusion to his epaulets, termed “graine d’épinards.”

LÉGUMISTE, _m._ (familiar), _vegetarian_.

LEM, parler en ----, _mode of disguising words_ by prefixing the letter “l,” and adding the syllabic “em” preceded by the first letter of the word; thus “boucher” becomes “loucherbem.” This mode was first used by butchers, and is now obsolete. See LAMPAGNE.

LENQUETRÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _thirty sous_. The word “trente” disguised.

LENTILLE, _f._ (thieves’), grosse ----, _moon_, “parish lantern.”

LÉON, _m._ (thieves’), _the president of the assize court_.

LERMON, _m._ (thieves’), _tin_.

LERMONNER (thieves’), _to tin_.

LESBIEN, _m._ (literary), formerly termed lesbin, explained by quotation:--

Lesbin, pour dire un jeune homme ou garçon qui sert de
sucube à un autre et qui souffre qu’on commette la sodomie
sur lui.--=LE ROUX=, _Dict. Comique_.

LESBIENNE, _f._ (common). Rigaud says: “Femme qui suit les errements de Sapho; celle qui cultive le genre de dépravation attribué à Sapho la Lesbienne.”

LESCAILLER. See LASCAILLER.

LÉSÉBOMBE, or LÉSÉE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_, or “mot.” For synonymous expressions see GADOUE.

LESSIVAGE, _m._ (popular), _selling of property_; (thieves’) _pleading_.

LESSIVANT, _m._ (thieves’), _counsel_, or “mouthpiece.”

LESSIVE, _f._ (popular), de gascon, _doubtful cleanliness_. Faire la ----, _to turn one’s dirty shirt-collar or cuffs on the clean side_. (Literary) Faire sa ----, _to sell books sent to one by authors_. (Thieves’) Lessive, _speech for the defence_. The prisoner compares himself to dirty linen, to be washed snow-white by the counsel.

LESSIVER (thieves’), _is said of a barrister who pleads in behalf of a prisoner_. Se faire ----, _to be cleaned out at some game_, “to have blewed one’s tin,” or “to be a muck-snipe,” or in sporting slang a “muggins.”

LESSIVEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _counsel_, or “mouthpiece.” Literally _one who washes_.

LETERN (Breton cant), _eye_.

LETEZ (Breton cant), _countryman_.

LETEZEN (Breton cant), _pancake_.

LETTRE, _f._ (thieves’), de Jérusalem, _letter written by a prisoner to someone outside the prison, to request that some money may be sent him_; ---- de couronne (obsolete), _cup_.

LEVAGE, _m._ (popular), _swindle_; _successful gallantry_.

LEVÉ, _adj._ (general), had formerly the signification of _to be tracked by a bailiff who has found one’s whereabouts_.

LEVÉE, _f._ (popular), _wholesale arrest of prostitutes_.

LÈVE-PIEDS, _m._ (thieves’), _ladder_; _steps_, or “dancers.” Embarder sur le ----, _to go down the steps_, “to lop down the dancers.”

LEVER (printers’), la lettre, or les petits clous, _to compose_; (popular) ---- boutique, _to set up as a tradesman_.

Un Toulousain ... jeune perruquier dévoré d’ambition,
vint à Paris, et y leva boutique (je me sers de votre
argot).--=BALZAC.=

Lever des chopins, _to find some profitable stroke of business_; ---- la jambe, _to dance the cancan_; ---- le bras, _to be dissatisfied_; ---- le pied, _to abscond_; (familiar and popular) ---- une femme, _to find a woman willing to accord her favours_; ---- quelquechose, _to steal something_, “to wolf;” (military) ---- les baluchons, _to go away_; (prostitutes’) ---- un miché, _to find a client_, “to pick up a flat.”

LEVEUR, _m._ (popular), _pickpocket_, “buzcove.” See GRINCHE. Leveur de femmes, _a Don Giovanni in a small way_, or a “molrower.” (Printers’) Bon ----, _skilled typographer_.

Un bon leveur est un ouvrier qui compose bien et
vite.--=BOUTMY.=

LEVEUSE, _f._ (familiar and popular), _a flash girl_.

LEVURE, _f._ (popular), _flight_. Faire la ----, _to run away_; “to skedaddle,” “to mizzle.”

LÉZARD, _m._ (popular), _an untrustworthy friend_; _dog stealer_.

Le lézard vole des chiens courants, des épagneuls et
surtout des levrettes. Il ne livre jamais sa proie sans
recevoir la somme déclarée.--_Almanach du Débiteur._

Faire son ----, _to doze in the daytime like a lizard basking in the sun_. (Thieves’) Faire le ----, to take to flight, “to make beef.” See PATATROT. Un ----, _a traitor_, a “snitcher.”

LÉZARDES, _f. pl._ (printers’), _white spaces_.

Raies blanches produites dans la composition par la
rencontre fortuite d’espaces placées les unes au-dessous
des autres.--=BOUTMY.=

LÉZINE, _f._ (thieves’), _cheating at a game_.

LÉZINER (thieves’), _to cheat_, “to bite;” _to hesitate_, “to funk.”

LIBRETAILLEUR, _m._ (familiar), _a libretto writer of poor ability_.

LICE, _f._ (popular), _lecherous girl_. Literally _bitch_.

LICHADE, _f._ (popular), _embrace_.

LICHANCE, _f._ (popular), _hearty meal_, “tightener.” From licher, equivalent to lécher, _to lick_.

LICHE, _f._ (popular), _excessive eating or drinking_. Etre en ----, _to be_ “on the booze.”

LICHER (familiar and popular), _to drink_, “to lush.” See RINCER.

Il a liché tout’ la bouteille,
Rien n’est sacré pour un sapeur.

_Parisian Song._

LICHEUR, _m._ (familiar and popular), _gormandizer_. The term is very old.

LICHOTER UN RIGOLBOCHE (popular), _to make a hearty meal_, or “tightener.”

LIE DE FROMENT, _f._ (popular), _excrement_, or “quaker.”

LIÈGE, _m._ (thieves’), _gendarme_.

LIERCHEM (cads’), _to ease oneself_. An obscene word disguised. See LEM.

LIGNANTE, _f._ (thieves’), _life_.

Ce mot ... vient de la ligne, dite de vie, que les
bohémiens consultaient sur la main de ceux auxquels ils
disaient la bonne aventure.--=MICHEL.=

LIGNARD, _m._ (familiar and popular), _foot-soldier of the line_; _journalist_; (printers’) _compositor who has to deal only with the body part of a composition_; (artists’) _artist who devotes his attention more to the perfection of the outline than to that of colour_; (popular) _rodfisher_.

LIGNE, _f._ (artists’), avoir la ----, _to have a fine profile_. (Literary) Pêcher à la ----, or tirer à la ----, _is said of a journalist who seeks to make an article as lengthy as possible_. (Popular) Pêcher à la ---- d’argent _is said of an angler who catches fish by means of a money bait, at the fishmonger’s_. (Printers’) Ligne à voleur, _line containing only a syllable, or a very short word, which might have been composed into the preceding line_.

Les lignes à voleur sont faciles à reconnaître, et elles
n’échappent guère à l’œil d’un correcteur exercé, qui les
casse d’ordinaire impitoyablement.--=BOUTMY.=

LIGORE, _f._ (thieves’), _assize court_.

LIGORNIAU, _m._ (popular), _hodman_.

LIGOT. See LIGOTANTE.

LIGOTAGE, _m._ (police), _binding a prisoner’s hands by means of a rope or strap_.

LIGOTANTE, or LIGOTTE, _f._ (thieves’), _rope, or strap_; _bonds_; ---- de rifle, or riflarde, _strait waistcoat_.

LIGOTER (police and thieves’), _to bind a prisoner’s hands by means of ropes or straps_.

Nul mieux que lui ne savait prendre un malfaiteur sans
l’abîmer, ni lui mettre les poucettes sans douleur ou le
ligoter sans effort.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

LIGOTTE, _f._ (thieves’), _rope_; _string_; _strap_.

LILLANGE (thieves’), _town of Lille_.

LILLOIS, _m._ (thieves’), _thread_.

LIMACE, _f._ (popular), _low prostitute_, or “draggle-tail;” _soldier’s wench_, or “barrack-hack,” see GADOUE; (thieves’) _shirt_, “flesh-bag, or commission.” From the Romany “lima,” according to Michel.

LIMACIER, _m._, LIMACIÈRE, _f._, (thieves’), _shirt-maker_. From limace, _a shirt_.

LIMANDE, _f._ (popular), _man made of poor stuff_; _one who fawns_. From limande, _a kind of sole_ (fish).

LIME, _f._ (thieves’), for limace, _shirt_, or “commission” in old English cant; ---- sourde, _sly, underhand man_. The expression is old, and is used by Rabelais:--

Mais, qui pis est, les oultragearent grandement,
les appellants trop-diteux, breschedents, plaidants
rousseaulx, galliers, chie-en-licts, averlans, limes
sourdes.--_Gargantua._

LIMER (familiar and popular), _to talk with difficulty_; _to do a thing slowly_. Literally _to file_.

LIMOGÈRE, _f._ (thieves’), _chambermaid_.

LIMONADE, _f._ (popular), _water_, or “Adam’s ale;” _the trade of a_ “limonadier,” _or proprietor of a small café_. Tomber, or se plaquer dans la ----, _to fall into the water_; _to be ruined_, or “gone a mucker.” (Thieves’) Limonade, _flannel vest_; ---- de linspré, _champagne_. “Linspré” is the word “prince” disguised.

LIMONADIER DE POSTÉRIEURS, _m._ (popular), _apothecary_. Formerly apothecaries performed the “clysterium donare” of Molière’s _Malade Imaginaire_.

LIMOUSIN, or LIMOUSINANT, _m._ (popular), _mason_. It must be mentioned that most of the Paris masons hail from Limousin.

LIMOUSINE, _f._ (thieves’), _sheet lead on roofs_, or “flap.” Termed also “saucisson, gras-double.”

LIMOUSINEUR, _m._ (thieves’), _thief who steals sheet-lead roofing_. Called also “voleur au gras-double,” a “bluey faker,” or one who “flies the blue pigeon.” See GRINCHE.

LINGE, _m._ (familiar and popular), faire des effets de ----, _to display one’s body linen with affectation_. Un bock sans ----, or sans faux-col, _a glass of beer without any head_. A request for such a thing is often made in the Paris cafés, where the microscopic “bocks” or “choppes” are topped by gigantic heads. Se payer un ---- convenable, _to have a stylish mistress_, an “out-and-out tart.” (Popular) Un ---- à règles, _a dirty, slatternly woman_. Resserrer son ----, _to die_. (Thieves’) Avoir son ---- lavé, _to be caught_, _apprehended_, or “smugged.”

LINGÉ, _adj._ (popular), être ----, _to have plenty of fine linen_.

LINGRE, or LINGUE, _m._ (thieves’), _knife_, or “chive.” From Langres, a manufacturing town. The synonyms are “linve, trente-deux, vingt-deux, chourin or surin, scion, coupe-sifflet, pliant.” Jouer du ----, _to stab_, “to stick, or to chive.”

LINGRER, or LINGUER (thieves’), _to stab_, “to stick, or to chive.”

LINGRIOT, _m._ (thieves’), _penknife_.

LINGUARDE, _f._ (popular), _woman with a soft tongue_.

LINGUE, _m._ (thieves’), _knife_, or “chive.”

LINSPRÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _prince_. See LIMONADE.

LINVÉ, _m._ (popular), loussem, _twenty sous_. The words “vingt sous” distorted. Un ----, _a franc_: “un lenquetré” _being one franc and fifty centimes, or thirty sous_, and “un larantqué,” _two francs, or forty sous_. These expressions are respectively the words un, trente, quarante, disguised.

LION, _m._ (familiar), _dandy of 1840_. Fosse aux lions, _box at the opera occupied by men of fashion_. For synonymous terms see GOMMEUX.

LIONNERIE, _f._ (familiar), _fashionable world_.

LIPÈTE, _f._ (popular), _prostitute_, “mot,” or “common Jack.” See GADOUE.

LIPETTE, _f._ (popular), _mason_. Termed also ligorgniot.

LIPPER (popular), _to visit several wine-shops in succession_.

LIQUETTE, or LIMACE, _f._ (thieves’), _shirt_, in old English cant “commission.” Décarrer le centre d’une ----, _to obliterate the marking of a shirt_.

LIQUEUR, _f._ (popular), cache-bonbon à ----, _dandy’s stick-up collar_. A malevolent allusion to scrofula abcesses on the neck.

LIRE (familiar), aux astres, _to muse_, “to go wool-gathering;” (familiar and popular) ---- le journal, _to go without a dinner_; ---- le Moniteur, _to wait patiently_. (Printers’) Lire, _to note proposed alterations in a proof_; ---- en première, _to correct the first proof_; ---- en seconde, or en bon, _to correct a second proof on which the author has written “for press.”_ (Thieves’) Savoir ----, _to have one’s wits about one_, “to know what’s o’clock.”

LISETTE, _f._ (thieves’), _long waistcoat_; _sword_, or “poker.”

LISSERPEM (roughs’), _to void urine_. The word “pisser” disguised by prefixing the letter “l,” and adding the syllable “em” preceded by the first letter of the word.

LISTARD, _m._ (journalists’), _one in favour of “scrutin de liste,” or mode of voting for the election wholesale of all the representatives in parliament of a “département.”_ For instance, the Paris electors have to vote for a list of over thirty members.

LIT, _m._ (popular), être sous le ----, _to be mistaken_.

LITHOGRAPHIER (popular), se ----, _to fall_, “to come a cropper.”

LITRER, or ITRER (thieves’), _to have_.

LITRONNER (popular), _to drink wine_. From litron, _a wine measure_.

LITRONNEUR, _m._ (popular), _one who is too fond of the bottle_.

LITTÉRATURE JAUNE (familiar), _the so-called Naturalist literature_.

LITTÉRATURIER, _m._ (familiar), _a literary man after a fashion_.

LIVRAISON, _f._ (popular), avoir une ---- de bois devant sa porte, _to have well-developed breasts_, _to be possessed of fine_ “Charlies.”

LIVRE, _m._ (popular), des quatre rois, _pack of cards_, “book of briefs,” or “Devil’s books;” ---- rouge, _police registration book in which the names of authorized prostitutes are inscribed_. Etre inscrite dans le ---- rouge, _to be a registered prostitute_. (Freemasons’) Livre d’architecture, _ledger of a lodge_. (Sharpers’) Livre, _one hundred francs_.

LOA VIHAN (Breton cant), _coffee_.

LOCANDIER, _m._ (thieves’). Called also “voleur au bonjour,” _thief who visits apartments in the morning, and who when caught pretends to have entered the wrong rooms by mistake_. See GRINCHE.

LOCHE, _f._ (popular), mou comme une ----, _slow_, _phlegmatic_, “lazybones.” (Thieves’) Loche, _ear_, or “wattle.” Properly _loach or groundling_.

LOCHER (thieves’), _to listen_; (popular) _to totter_, “to be groggy.”

LOCOMOTIVE, _f._ (popular), _great smoker_.

LOF, LOFF, LOFFARD, LOFFE, _m._ (popular), _fool_, or “bounder.” “Lof” is the anagram of “fol.”

A lui le coq,... pour inventer des emblèmes ... quand j’y
pense, fallait-il que je fusse loff pour donner dans un
godan pareil!--_Mémoires de Vidocq._

LOFFAT, _m._ (popular), _apprentice_.

LOFFIAT, _m._ (popular), _blockhead_, or “cabbage-head.”

LOFFITUDE, _f._ (thieves’), _stupidity_; _nonsense_. Bonisseur de loffitudes, _nonsense-monger_. Solliceur de loffitudes, _journalist_.

LOGE INFERNALE, _f._ (theatrical), _box occupied by young men of fashion_.

LOGER RUE DU CROISSANT (familiar and popular), _is said of an injured husband_, or “buckface.” An allusion to the horns of the moon.

LOGIS DU MOUTROT, _m._ (thieves’), _police court_.

LOIR, _m._ (thieves’), _prison_, “stir, or Bastile.” See MOTTE.

LOKARD (Breton cant), _peasant_.

LOKO (Breton cant), _brandy_.

LOLO, _m._ (thieves’), _chief_, or “dimber damber;” (popular) _cocotte_, or “mot.” See GADOUE. Fifi ----, _large iron cylinder in which the contents of cesspools are carried away by the scavengers_. (Military) Gros lolos, _cuirassiers_.

LOMBARD, _m._ (popular), _commissionnaire of the “Mont de Piété,” or government pawning establishment_.

LONCEGUÉ, _m._ (thieves’ and cads’), _man_, “cove;” _master of a house_, “boss.” The word gonce disguised.

LONCEGUEM, _f._ (thieves’ and cads’), _woman_, or “hay-bag;” _mistress of a house_.

LONG, _m. and adj._ (popular), _simpleton_, _greenhorn_. Etes-vous logé et nourri? Oui, le ---- du mur. _Do you get board and lodging? Yes, at my own expense._ (Thieves’) Long, _stupid_; _blockhead_, or “go along.” Abbreviation of long à comprendre.

LONGCHAMPS, _m._, _a long corridor of w.c.’s at the Ecole Polytechnique_; (popular) _a procession_.

LONGE, _f._ (thieves’), _year_, or “stretch.” Tirer une ----, _to do one_ “stretch” _in prison_.

LONGÉ, _adj._ (popular), _old_.

LONGIN, or SAINT-LONGIN, _m._ (popular), _sluggard_.

LONGINE, or SAINTE-LONGINE, _f._ (popular), _sluggish woman_.

LONGUETTE DE TRÈFLE, _f._ (thieves’), _roll of tobacco_, or “twist of fogus.”

LOPHE, _adj._ (thieves’), _false_; _counterfeit_, “flash.” Un fafiot ----, _a forged bank-note_, or “queer screen.”

LOPIN, _m._ (popular), _spittle_, or “gob.”

LOQUE, _m._ (thieves’), parler en ----, _mode of disguising words_. The word is preceded by the letter “l,” and the syllable preceded by the first letter of the word is added. Thus “fou” becomes “loufoque.”

LOQUES, _f. pl._ (thieves’), _pieces of copper_.

LORCEFÉ, _f._ (thieves’), _old prison of “La Force.”_ La ---- des largues, _the prison of Saint-Lazare, where prostitutes and unfaithful wives are confined_.

Eh bien! si je te la fourrais à la lorcefé des
largues (Saint-Lazare) pour un an, le temps de ton
gerbement.--=BALZAC.=

LORDANT. See LOURDIER.

LORET, _m._ (popular), _lover of a_ lorette.

LORETTE, _f._ (familiar), _more than fast girl_, or “mot,” _named after the Quartier Notre Dame de Lorette, the Paris Pimlico_. See GADOUE.

LORGNE, or LORGNE-BÉ, _m._ (thieves’), _one-eyed man_. In English slang “a seven-sided animal;” _the ace of cards_, or “pig’s eye.”

LORGNETTE, _f._ (thieves’), _keyhole_, this natural receptacle for a key being considered by thieves as an aperture convenient only for making investigations from the outside of a door. Etui à ----, _coffin_, or “cold-meat box.” Eteindre ses deux lorgnettes, _to close one’s eyes_.

LORQUET, _m._ (popular), _sou_.

LOT, _m._ (popular), _venereal disease_.

LOU, or LOUP, _m._ (popular), faire un ----, _to spoil a piece of work_.

LOUANEK (Breton cant), _brandy_.

LOUAVE, _m._ (thieves’), _drunkard_. Être ----, _to be drunk_, “to be canon.” Faire un ----, _to rob a drunkard_. Rogues who devote their energies to this kind of thieving are termed “bug-hunters.”

LOUBAC, _m._ (popular), _apprentice_.

LOUBION, _m._ (thieves’), _bonnet or hat_. See TUBARD.

LOUBIONNIER, _m._ (thieves’), _hat or bonnet maker_.

LOUCHE, _f._ (thieves’), _hand_, or “duke.” La ----, _the police_, or “reelers.” La ---- le renifle, _the police are tracing him_, _he is getting a_ “roasting.”

LOUCHÉE, _f._ (thieves’), _spoonful_. From louche, _a soup ladle_.

LOUCHER (popular), de la bouche, _to have a constrained, insincere smile_; ---- de l’épaule, _to be a humpback_, or a “lord;” ---- de la jambe, _to be lame_. Faire ---- un homme, _to inspire a man with carnal desire_.

LOUCHERBEM, _m._ (popular and thieves’), the word boucher disguised, see Lem; BUTCHER. Corbillard des ----, see CORBILLARD.

LOUCHON, _m._, LOUCHONNE, _f._ (popular), _person who squints_, _one with_ “swivel-eyes.”

LOUFFER (popular and thieves’), _to foist_, “to fizzle.” Si tu louffes encore sans dire fion je te passe à travers, _if you_ “fizzle” _again without apologizing I’ll thrash you_.

LOUFFIAT, _m._ (popular), _low cad_. Termed in the English slang a “rank outsider.”

LOUFOQUE, _adj. and m._ (popular and thieves’), _mad_, or “cracked, balmy, or one off his chump.” The word fou disguised by means of the syllable loque. See LOQUE.

Si nos doch’ étaient moins vieilles,
On les ferait plaiser,
Mais les pauv’ loufoques balaient
Les gras d’nos laisées.

=RICHEPIN.=

LOUILLE, _f._ (thieves’), _prostitute_, or “bunter.” See GADOUE.

LOUIS, _f. and m._ (bullies’), une ----, _a bully’s mistress_, _a prostitute_. Abbreviation of Louis XV., women in brothels often powdering and dressing their hair Louis XV. fashion. See GADOUE.

J’couch’ que’qu’fois sous des voitures;
Mais on attrap’ du cambouis.
J’veux pas ch’linguer la peinture
Quand j’suc’ la pomme à ma Louis.

=RICHEPIN.=

(Popular) Un ---- d’or, _lump of excrement_, or “quaker.”

LOUISETTE, _f._ _old appellation of the guillotine_.

LOUIZA (Breton cant), WATER.

LOUP, _m._ (popular), _mistake_; _debt_; _creditor_, or “dun;” _misfit, or piece of work which has been spoilt_; (printers’) _lack of type_; _debt_; _creditor_. Faire un ----, _is to buy on credit_.

Le jour de la banque, le créancier ou “loup” vient
quelquefois guetter son débiteur (nous allions dire sa
proie) à la sortie de l’atelier pour réclamer ce qui lui
est dû. Quand la réclamation a lieu à l’atelier, ce qui est
devenu très rare, les compositeurs donnent à leur camarade
et au créancier une “roulance” accompagnée des cris: au
loup! au loup!--=BOUTMY.=

LOUPATE, _m._ (popular), the word “pou” disguised, _a louse_, or “grey-backed ’un.”

LOUP-CERVIER, _m._ (familiar), _stockjobber_.

LOUPE, _f._, _laziness_, “loafing.” Camp de la ----, _vagabonds’ meeting-place_. Chevalier de la ----, _a lazy rambler or gad-about who goes about pleasure seeking_. (Thieves’) Un enfant de la ----, _a variety of the vagabond tribe_.

Les Enfants de la loupe et les Filendèches habitaient de
préférence l’extérieur des carrières, leurs fours à briques
ou à plâtre.--_Mémoires de Monsieur Claude._

LOUPER (popular), _to idle about pleasure seeking_.

LOUPEUR (popular), _lazy workman_, _or one who is_ “Mondayish.”

LOUPIAT, _m._ (popular), _lazy_, or “Mondayish,” _workman_; _vagrant_, or “pikey.”

LOUPIAU, or LOUPIOT, _m._ (popular), _child_, or “kid.”

LOUPION, _m._ (popular), _hat_, “tile.” See TUBARD.

LOURDE, or LOURDIÈRE, _f._ (thieves’), _door_, “jigger.” Bâcler la ----, _to shut the door_, “to dub the jigger.”

LOURDEAU, _m._ (thieves’), _devil_, “ruffin,” or “darble.”

LOURDIER, _m._ (popular), _door-keeper_.

LOUSSE, _f._ (thieves’), _country gendarme or corps of gendarmerie_.

LOUSSÉS, _m. pl._ (cads’), dix ----, _fifty centimes_. The word sous disguised.

LOUSTAUD, _m._ (thieves’), _prison_, or “stir.” See MOTTE. Envoyer à ----, _to send to the deuce_, “to pot.”

LOUTER (popular). See FAIRE UN LOU.

LOUVETEAU, _m._ (freemasons’), _son of a freemason_.

LOUVETIER, _m._ (printers’), _man in debt_.

Ce terme est pris en mauvaise part, car le typo auquel on
l’applique est considéré comme faisant trop bon marché de
sa dignité.--=BOUTMY.=

LUBRE, _adj._ (thieves’), _dismal_. Lubre comme un guichemard, _as dismal as a turnkey_.

LUC, _m._ (popular), messire ----, _breech_, or “tochas.” “Luc” is the anagram of “cul.” See VASISTAS.

LUCARNE, _f._ (popular), _woman’s bonnet_.

Autrefois on assimilait le capuchon des moines à une
fenêtre, d’où le proverbe: défiez-vous des gens qui ne
voient le jour que par une fenêtre de drap.--=MICHEL.=

LUCARNE, _monocular eye-glass_. Crever sa ----, _to break one’s eye-glass_.

LUCQUES, _m. pl._ (thieves’), _documents_. Porte ----, _pocket-book_, “dee,” or “dummy.”

LUCRÈCE, _f._ (popular), faire sa ----, _to put on a virtuous look_.

LUCTRÈME, _m._ (thieves’), _skeleton key_, “screw,” “Jack in the box,” or “twirl.” Filer le ----, _to open a door by means of a skeleton-key_, “to screw.”

LUGNA (Breton cant), _to look_.

LUIRE, _m._ (old cant), _brain_.

LUIS, or LUISANT, _m._ (thieves’), _day_.

Je rouscaille tous les luisans au grand haure de
l’oraison.--_Le Jargon de l’Argot._ (_I pray daily the
great God of prayer._)

LUISANT, _m._, see LUIS; (familiar) _dandy_, “masher.”

Voici d’abord le pschutt, le vlan, les luisants, comme nous
les nommons aujourd’hui.--=P. MAHALIN.=

For synonymous terms see GOMMEUX.

LUISANTE, or LUISARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _moon_, or “parish lantern;” _window_, or “jump.”

LUISARD, or LUYSARD, _m._ (thieves’), _sun_. Luysard estampille six plombes, _it is six o’clock by the sun_.

LUISARDE, _f._ (thieves’), _moon_, “parish lantern, or oliver.”

LUMIGNON, _m._ (thieves’), le grand ----, _sun_. Properly lumignon is _a lantern_.

LUMINARISTE, _m._ (theatrical), _lamp-lighter_.

LUNCHER (familiar), _to have lunch_. From the English.

LUNE, _f._ (thieves’), one franc; ---- à douze quartiers, _the wheel on which criminals were broken_. (Familiar and popular) Lune, _the behind_. See VASISTAS. Lune, _large full face_. Amant de la ----, _man with amatory intentions who frequently goes out on nocturnal, but fruitless_ “caterwauling” _expeditions_. Voir la ----, _is said of a maiden who is made a woman_.

La petite a beau avoir de la dentelle, elle n’en verra pas
moins la lune par le même trou que les autres.--=ZOLA=,
_L’Assommoir_.

LUNÉ, _adj._ (popular), bien ----, _in a good humour_, _well disposed_.

LUNETTE, _f._ (popular), d’approche, _guillotine_. Passer en ----, _to take in_, “to do;” _to harm_. Etre passé en ----, _to fail in business_. Les lunettes, _posteriors_, or “cheeks.” (Popular) Lunettes, _small fry_. Je vais à la chasse aux ----, _I am going to fish for small fry_.

LUQUE, _f._ (thieves’ and mendicants’), _certificate_; _false certificate, or false begging petition_, “fakement;” _passport_; _picture_. Je sais bien aquiger les luques, _I know well how to forge a certificate, or to make up pictures_. Porte ----, _pocket-book_, or “dummy.” It seems probable that the term “une luque,” a picture, is derived from Saint-Luc, who formed the subject of the pictures used formerly by mendicants to ingratiate themselves with monks and nuns, as mentioned by _Le Jargon de l’Argot_.

LUQUET, _m._ (thieves’ and mendicants’), _forged certificate_, _or false begging petition_, “fakement.”

LURON, _m._ (thieves’), avaler le ----, _to partake of communion_. The term was probably, in the origin, “le rond,” corrupted into its present form (Michel).

LUSIGNANTE, _f._ (popular), _mistress_, or “moll.”

LUSQUIN, _m._ (thieves’), _charcoal_.

LUSQUINES, _f. pl._ (thieves’), _ashes_.

LUSTRE, _m._ (thieves’), _judge_, or “beak.” (Theatrical) Chevaliers du ----, _men who are paid to applaud at a theatre_. Termed also “romains.” The staff of romains is termed “claque.”

LUSTRER (thieves’), _to try a prisoner_, _to have him in for_ “patter.”

LUTAINPEM, _f._ (thieves’ and cads’), _prostitute_, or “bunter.” See GADOUE. The term is nothing more than the word “putain” distorted by means of the syllable “lem.” See LEM.

LYCÉE, _m._ (thieves’), _prison_, “stir, or Bastile.” For synonyms see MOTTE.

LYCÉEN, _m._ (thieves’), _prisoner_. Termed also “élève du château.”

LYONNAISE, _f._ (popular), _silk_, “floss.” Etre à la ----, _to wear a silk dress_.