L

Labour of love
A labour of love is a project or task undertaking for the interest or pleasure in doing it rather than the reward, financial or otherwise.
Labour of love
A labour of love is a project or task undertaking for the interest or pleasure in doing it rather than the reward, financial or otherwise.
Lame duck
If something or someone is a lame duck, they are in trouble.
Land of nod
If someone has gone to the land of nod, they have fallen asleep or gone to bed.
Lap of the gods
If something is in the lap of the gods, it is beyond our control and fate will decide the outcome.
Larger than life
If something is excessive or exaggerated, it is larger than life.
Last hurrah
If an elderly person does something special before they die, it is a last hurrah.
Last straw
The last straw is the final problem that makes someone lose his temper or the problem that finally brought about the collapse of something.
Last-ditch
A last-ditch attempt is a desperate attempt that will probably fail anyway.
Law unto yourself
If somebody’s a law unto themselves, they do what they believe is right regardless of what is generally accepted as correct.
Lay down the law
If someone lays down the law, they tell people what to do and are authoritarian.
Lead someone up the garden path
If someone leads you up the garden path, they deceive you, or give you false information that causes you to waste your time.
Leave no stone unturned
If you look everywhere to find something, or try everything to achieve something, you leave no stone unturned.
Leave well alone
If you leave something well alone, you keep a safe distance from it, either physically or metaphorically.
Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing
If the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, then communication within a company, organisation, group, etc, is so confidential that people don’t know what the others are doing.
Left in the dark
If you are left in the dark about something, you aren’t given the information that you should have.
Legend in your own lunchtime
Somebody who becomes a legend in their own lifetime acquires fame, but often only to a select or specialist audience, while they are still alive.
Lesser of two evils
Something that is the lesser of two evils, is an unpleasant option, but not as bad as the other.
Let bygones be bygones
If people decide to let bygones be bygones, they decide to forget old problems or grievances they have with each other.
Let sleeping dogs lie
If someone is told to let sleeping dogs lie, it means that they shouldn’t disturb a situation as it would result in trouble or complications.
Let the cat out of the bag
If you accidentally reveal a secret, you let the cat out of the bag.
Let the devil take the hindmost
This idiom means that you should think of yourself and not be concerned about other people; look after yourself and let the devil take the hindmost.
Level playing field
If there’s a level playing field everybody is treated equally.
Lie through your teeth
Someone who is always lying, regardless of what people know, lies through their teeth.
Light years ahead
If you are light years ahead of others, you are a long way in front of them in terms of development, success, etc.
Lightning rod
Someone or something that attracts a lot of negative comment, often diverting attention from other problems, is a lightning rod.
Like a beached whale
Once a whale is on a beach, it cannot get back into the easily, so if you are completely stuck somewhere and can’t get away, you are stranded like a beached whale.
Like a cat that got the cream
If someone looks very pleased with himself and happy, he look like a cat that got the cream.
Like a duck to water
If someone has a natural talent for something and enjoys it, they take to it like a duck to water.
Like a fish needs a bicycle
If someone needs something like a fish needs a bicycle, they do not need it at all.
Like a fish out of water
If someone feels like a fish out of water, they are very uncomfortable in the situation they are in.
Like a rat deserting a sinking ship
If people leave a company because they know that it’s about to have serious problems, or turn their back on a person about to be in a similar situation, they are said to be like rats deserting a sinking ship.
Like lambs to the slaughter
If somebody does something unpleasant without any resistance, they go like lambs to the slaughter.
Like taking candy from a baby
If something is like taking candy from a baby, it is very easy to do.
Like the clappers
If something is going like the clappers, it is going very fast.
Like there’s no tomorrow
If you do something like there’s no tomorrow, you do it fast or energetically.
Lily-livered
Someone who is lily-livered is a coward.
Lines of communication
Lines of communication are the routes used to communicate by people or groups who are in conflict; a government might open lines of communication with terrorists if it wished to negotiate with them.
Lip service
When people pay lip service to something, they express their respect, but they don’t act on their words, so the respect is hollow and empty.
Live wire
A person who is very active, both mentally and physically, is a live wire.
Loan shark
A loan shark lends money at very high rates of interest.
Lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
If someone takes action too late, they do this; there is no reason to lock an empty stable.
Lock, stock and barrel
This is an expressions that means ‘everything’; if someone buys a company lock, stock and barrel, they buy absolutely everything to do with the company.
Long in the tooth
If someone is long in the tooth, they are a bit too old to do something.
Long time no see
Long time no see means that the speaker has not seen that person for a long time.
Look after number 1
You are number one, so this idiom means that you should think about yourself first, rather than worrying about other people.
Look before you leap
This idiom means that you should think carefully about the possible results or consequences before doing something.
Look out for number one
If you look out for number one, you take care of yourself and your interests, rather than those of other people.
Lose the plot
If someone loses the plot, they have stopped being rational about something.
Lose your lunch
If you lose your lunch, you vomit.
Lose your marbles
If someone has lost their marbles, they’ve gone mad.
Lose your shirt
If someone loses their shirt, they lose all their money through a bad investment, gambling, etc.
Lower the bar
If people change the standards required to make things easier, they lower the bar.
Lower your sights
If you lower your sights, you accept something that is less than you were hoping for.
Luck of the draw
To have the ‘Luck of the draw’ is to win something in a competition where the winner is chosen purely by chance.