John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints

American English to British English Dictionary - L

LA

  1. Los Angeles, California.

  2. Louisiana (the state).

Labour Day (US spelling Labor)

 A legal public holiday throughout the USA and Canada, held on the first Monday in September, in honour of the working class. Labour Day marks the end of the summer season, when many seasonal tourist attractions close for the winter.

See also Memorial Day.

Labrador

See separate article.

LADOT

Los Angeles (California) Department Of Transportation, which is responsible for operating a local public transport bus system in the area.

Ladybug

Ladybird.

LAMTA

Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. An organisation responsible for public transport systems such as subway (underground railway), light railway and possibly bus services in the Los Angeles area. When the meaning is obvious the "LA" prefix is usually omitted.

Land Of Enchantment

New Mexico.

Land Of Evangeline

Nova Scotia.

Land Of Lincoln

Illinois.

Land Of Living Skies

Saskatchewan.

Land Of Opportunity

Arkansas.

Landfill

 Refuse dump.

Tom Wrona kindly supplied this explanation:

A landfill is not just any dump but one which fills in a natural or excavated depression. A "sanitary landfill" is one which refuses refuse. It takes only trees, dirt [i.e. earth - JC] and other harmless substances. Some towns have large hills that are sort of reverse landfills. They are mountains of trash, often covered in earth and patrolled by an aerial legion of seagulls. The locals invariably dub them "Mount Trashmore". The locals in Pompano Beach, FL swear theirs is the highest point in Florida!

Language Police

 In the Province of Québec, by law all commercial signs must either be entirely in the French language, or the French language version must be considerably more prominent than that in any other language (at least twice as large, according to one source). Emotions on this controversial subject tend to run high. When the law is applied to signs outside Chinese restaurants it is regarded by some people as being ludicrous.

Neil Kandalgaonkar kindly emailed me the following:

"Language Police" is a nickname anglophone Québecers give to the Office de la Langue Francaise (OLF). While not a police institution per se, the OLF's role is to enforce various laws regarding the promotion of the French language within the province. For instance, some laws help ensure that French-speaking people can work in their own language, which was not always a given just thirty years ago. Occasionally the OLF prosecutes the laws with a certain zealotry that infuriates anglophones (and embarrasses even some francophones.) Generally, francophones have a positive image of the institution whereas anglophones do not. By the way, I'm an anglophone Québecer. I consulted a francophone friend for this submission.

Lanai

  1. A veranda or patio, often covered, often in the form of a room of a house with a missing external wall. Some American houses have a lanai, often leading onto a swimming pool. The word is Hawaiian.

  2. The sixth largest of the Hawaiian islands.

Larceny

Theft. Grand larceny is presumably theft involving items of high value but I do know the precise definition.

LAS

Airport code for McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Last Frontier

Alaska.

Latam

Latin America, i.e. Mexico, Central America and South America. This term isn't in common use and may not be generally understood.

Latino

A person of Hispanic descent. Chicano and Hispanic are closely related words. All three words can be considered as insulting by some and are therefore best avoided unless you fully understand their implications, which vary depending on region.

Laurentian Plateau

See separate article.

Lawmaker

A euphemism for "politician".

LAX

Airport code for Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California.

Lay-Z

"Lazy" - from the American pronunciation of the name of the letter "Z" as "zee".

LBG

Airport code for Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France (included here for convenience).

LBJ

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973), Vice-President of the USA from 1961 to 1963, and President from 1963 to 1969.

LBL

Land Between The Lakes, Kentucky and Tennessee.

LCK

Airport code for Rickenbacker International Airport, Columbus, Ohio.

LDS

Latter Day Saint, i.e. a Mormon - referring to a member of the Mormon Church or the church itself.

LDW

Loss Damage Waiver.

Lead

Electrical cable.

Leatherneck

A member of the Marines - the Royal Marines or the US Marines.

"Leave it open or close it down?"

If a motel receptionist asks you this mysterious question, they are asking if you want to leave payment until later, because you haven't yet decided how many nights you'll be staying, or whether you would prefer to settle up now.

Leery

To be wary, cautious or frightened of something.

Legal Holiday

Bank holiday, statutory holiday.

Lemonade

According to one source, in American English "lemonade" refers only to "real" lemonade, not the normal carbonated drink.

Levee

An embankment built to keep a river from overflowing, as along long stretches of the lower Mississippi River, or a landing stage on a river.

LGA

Airport code for LaGuardia Airport, New York City, New York State.

LGW

Airport code for London Gatwick Airport, England (included here for convenience).

LHR

Airport code for London Heathrow Airport, England (included here for convenience).

Licence Plate

A car's number plate. Although the size, shape and fundamental design of licence plates is the same throughout the USA and Canada, each state, province and territory has its own symbols and wording.

Major Jim Collins kindly sent me this additional information:

Nearly every state now allows winners of the Medal of Honour (equivalent of a Victoria Cross), Silver Star (equivalent of a DSO/DSM) and Purple Heart to have a special licence plate with these medals on it, for a reduced fee (or for free). Also, special licence plates are available for military veterans and retirees at reduced fees.

Lifesaver

A brand of hard round mint, similar to Polo.

Lima Bean

Butter bean.

Limited Access Highway

See separate article.

Line

  1. A queue. To "wait in line" is to wait in a queue.

  2. The border between two states (state line) or two counties (county line). When prefixed with the name of a state the word "Line" indicates the border between the state you are now in and that other state. For example, if you are in Colorado then the Utah line is the border between Colorado and Utah, but if you are in Arizona then the Utah line is the border between Arizona and Utah.

Line Cord

Lead, flex. The cable connecting an electrical appliance to a wall socket.

Liquor

Spirits.

Liquor Store

Off licence, or perhaps the beers, wines and spirits department of a supermarket - although Mike Naylor emailed me this comment:
Generally the term Liquor Store refers not to the spirit/beer/liquor department within a supermarket or grocery store, but to an independent shop which has been licensed by the state for the sale of liquor. Over the last twenty-five years or so, many grocery stores or supermarkets have been licensed to sell beer, but not hard liquors like whiskey or vodka. Whether or not a grocery store can sell hard liquor is dependent on the individual state. In order to compete with the grocery stores, some liquor stores have extended their stock to include soft drinks, usually in large volume, by the case sales.

LIS

Liability Insurance Supplement. See separate article.

Little Egypt

See separate article.

Little Rhody

Rhode Island.

Llano Estacado

See separate article.

Lobby

The foyer or reception area of a hotel, theatre, etc.

LOC

(United States) Library of Congress.

Locator

  1. A number which identifies a flight booking within an airline's computer system. When booking through an intermediary, such as the fly/drive holiday company associated with an airline, you normally cannot make plane seat reservations until the holiday company releases the flight booking to the actual airline, and a locator is created. The length of time before the flight when this is done varies considerably between companies. Being able to supply the locator number is a great help when making plane seat reservations. The locator is usually printed on the air tickets, although it may not be obviously marked as such.

  2. An important part of the automatic landing system for aircraft at airports.

Lock And Load

To prepare for an imminent event.

Locker Room

Changing room for sports players.

Locomotive

Railway engine.

Lode

A vein of rock which bears valuable minerals such as gold or silver, for example the Comstock Lode, the Homestake Lode and the Mother Lode.

Lollygag

  1. To idly waste time.

  2. To flirt, especially in public.

  3. To play a hoax.

  4. To act foolishly.

Lone Star State

Texas.

Long Distance

A trunk telephone call, although that term is now virtually obsolete in British English. Any non-local call.

Longshoreman

Dock worker.

Loonie

A slang expression for a Canadian one-Dollar coin, from the drawing of a loon (the bird) on one side. So when the two-Dollar coin was introduced, it inevitably gained the nickname "toonie".

Loop

  1. An area of downtown Chicago, originally named for a loop in the elevated train tracks. (Thanks to Anne Stibor of Wisconsin for reminding me of this meaning.)

  2. "Keep me in the loop" means "keep me informed of developments".

Loss Damage Waiver

See separate article.

Lost And Found

Lost property.

Lot

A plot of land or an area of land with a designated purpose, for example a parking lot is a car park.

Louisiana Purchase

See separate article.

Love Seat

According to one source, a settee. I don't know if the term is reserved for a settee with only two seats, or perhaps for the type which is occasionally seen where the seats point in opposite directions.

Low Carb

A meaningless term used by many food manufacturers in the USA, exploiting the gullible who fall for the Atkins Diet fad.

Low Fat Milk

Semi-skimmed milk. The percentage fat content is usually part of the name, for example 2% Milk.

Lower California

See separate article.

Lower Forty-Eight States

See separate article.

Lower Peninsula

The lower peninsula of Michigan.

Lox

Cured salmon. Often served as bagels and lox.

Loyalist

In eastern Canada, and to some extent in the USA, the term "Loyalist" normally refers to those American colonists who remained loyal to the British Government at the time of the American War of Independence. Some of these people moved north into Canada. The Loyalist Parkway on Quinte's Isle on the north shore of Lake Ontario is so named because of the area's associations with these Loyalists and I'm kindly informed by Andrea Rennick who lives near Saint John that New Brunswick's official nickname "the Loyalist Province" has the same derivation.

Loyalist Province

New Brunswick.

Luck Out

To have an unexpected success; to be lucky in a situation where it is unlikely. To "luck out" therefore means almost the exact opposite of being "out of luck".

Lug Wrench

See Monkey Wrench.

Luggage Rack

A roof rack on a car.

Lumber

Timber, wood which has been cut down, intended for building purposes.

Lunch Pail

Lunch box.
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Most recently modified 28-May-04