Lars Eighner's Homepage Writers' Workshop Glossary: L

L

`le·gal `mys·ter·y /'legl- 'mIstRi/ or /'legl- 'mIstri/ noun: (genre) A subgenre of mystery in which the protagonist is an attorney, usually a prosecutor or defense attorney, whose initial problem is to convict the guilty or exonerate the innocent (although both results are often achieved). The more realistic legal drama usually include much trial preparation, evidentiary hearings, plea bargaining sessions, appellate briefs, and other aspects of the legal where most of the legal action is in reality. Less realist legal mysteries are often court-room dramas in which a witness, browbeaten to a degree that no real court would permit, breaks down and confesses to the crime (in reality, surprises are rare in criminal trials). The order parts of Law & Order are examples of the former and Perry Mason is an example of the latter. The attorney is usually assisted by a detective who provides additional evidence (generally obtained out of view) when necessary
`lin,go /'lIN,goU/ noun plural lingoes: language, dialect, pidgin, vernacular; this is informal term is often used with little or no apparent intent to disparage. See: jargon.
interspersed with learned and stilted phrases from Latin and French amazed and secretly convulsed them. In this lingo the brief annals of his quiet existence were soon told. Then he was pleased with his 'mate' for slinging the lingo so well. He intended to use such abilities further. That's orders, mister. Don't leave me stranded, mate,' he added anxiously, 'I can't swing the lingo, you know.' The nomenclature and the lingo were familiar. He began now to memorize commands. But above all he began to furbish up his navigation. dispose o' these holy figures and figurines ra-ound to some o' the churches. Ye've got the hang o' the priestly lingo. You tell 'em for me, will yer?' Anthony Adverse —Hervey Allen · about it but I gathered that the insurance companies had waived habeas corpus or whatever it is in their lingo, and it seemed quite sure that they would collect. Christmas or bringing summer. Bingo, bingo, bingo, that's the lingo; love of mine, I pine for one of your glances; the darling boy on the left there; underneath the stars I wait. Collected Stories —F. Scott Fitzgerald · LINE UP—To accost. \ LINGO—Language. \ LIP—Impudence. A Dictionary of Australian Words And Terms —Gilbert H. Lawson · them understand my wishes. I couldn't let myself down by talking their lingo badly—even if I'd been able to speak at all—and I couldn't go flapping a lot of gestures at them. So I drew pictures in sand Twelve Stories and a Dream —H. G. Wells · and multiply,' which they did, though they didn't understand. Then we asks the names of things in their lingo—bread and water and fire and idols and such; and Dravot leads the priest of each village up to the idol, and says he must 'I can't tell all we did for the next six months, because Dravot did a lot I couldn't see the hang of, and he learned their lingo in a way I never could. My work was to help the people plough, and now and again go out with some of ''Do you remember that Bengali woman I kept at Mogul Serai when I was a plate-layer?' says I. 'A fat lot o' good she was to me. She taught me the lingo and one or two other things; but what happened? catches hold of Dan by the shoulders and drags him into the Bashkai lot, while the priests howls in their lingo, 'Neither God nor Devil, but a man!' I was all taken aback, for a priest cut at me in front, and the Army behind began The Works of Rudyard Kipling One Volume Edition —Rudyard Kipling · he stormed right along, and said any man that pretended to be an Englishman and couldn't imitate the lingo no better than what he did was a fraud and a liar. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn —Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) · Adams the other day, what I'm looking for is fellows that talk some new lingo—one that nobody will ever understand! But I suppose that would be too easy. There's no way to keep them from learning some English!' King Coal —Upton Sinclair · continuous ebullition of glee. Truly it was a delicious thing to find a man who could employ the lingo of the ultra-sophisticated sociologist, and use it in a demonstration of the most revolutionary Love's Pilgrimage —Upton Sinclair · 'I don't exactly hold no certificates on French, but I know another lingo that goes, I guess. Come on, Harve, an' interpret.' Captains Courageous —Rudyard Kipling · count your change, and bite the coins they offered you. As for the language—holy smoke! Why did civilized people want to talk a lingo that made you grunt like a pig—or like a penful of pigs of all 'And these Frenchies?' The doughboy looked at the others. 'You savvy their lingo?' When Jimmie shook his head, he turned to the battle-worn hairy ones. 'You fellows go back,' he said. 'We don't Jimmie Higgins —Upton Sinclair · 'You'll have to learn to sling the lingo,' said Charlie with a laugh. 'It's what you call a burglar.' Samuel the Seeker —Upton Sinclair · time to time. I want you to get next to these Reds, and learn about their ideas, so you can talk their lingo. information. He was going to be a 'Red,' and he must learn their lingo; but he found it awfully tiresome, full of long technical words which he had never heard before. Why couldn't these fellows at held a membership card could be sent to prison without further evidence. These phrases must be in the orthodox Communist lingo, and this was where Peter's specialized knowledge was needed. himself, but he coached a couple of young fellows whom McGivney brought to him, teaching them the Red lingo, and how to worm their way into the movement. Before long one of them was secretary of the 100%: The Story of a Patriot —Upton Sinclair · encountered; they ate more and drank more and intrigued more openly. He had been slowly acquiring the special lingo of Society, but these people had so much more slang that he felt all lost again. A young The Metropolis —Upton Sinclair · have never forgotten that such is the designation of a pig in the Typee lingo. Typee: A Romance of the South Sea —Herman Melville · Her fancyman is treating two Royal Dublins in O'Loughlin's of Blackpitts. Buss her, wap in rogues' rum lingo, for, O, my dimber wapping dell! And says Lenehan that knows a bit of the lingo: Then as for the other he had heard not so long before the same identical lingo as he told Stephen how he simply but effectually silenced the offender. Ulysses —James Joyce · [1] In sea-lingo (Pacific) DUTCHMAN includes all Teutons and folk from the basin of the Baltic; SCATTERMOUCH, all The Wrecker —Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne · But I have thoughts to tarry a small matter in town, to learn somewhat of your lingo first, before I cross the seas. I'd gladly have a spice of your French as they say, SIR WIL. Well, well, I shall understand your lingo one of these days, cousin; in the meanwhile I must answer in plain English. The Way of the World —William Congreve · That we converse? They are chatterboxes, whose lingo we are not sharp enough to master. Yet Again —Max Beerbohm ·
[local] [local]: Nearly every entry here might be marked [local] because this glossary is not intended to be a general dictionary, but is only a quick guide to issues and terms pertaining to this website. When the label appears explicitly, it is indicate a particularly idiosyncratic usuage or the special use of a term in regard to this site and its mechancis.