To dawdle, dally or waste time. American English from 1859 — though an older spelling, lallygag, was there first.
What it really means
To lollygag is to waste time — to dawdle, loiter, drift about when there is something you ought to be doing.
It is American, recorded from 1859, and it has a small secret: the spelling everyone uses is not the original one. Etymonline notes that lallygag is attested earlier. Lollygag is simply the version that won.
Where either came from is uncertain, and the best-known suggestion comes with a perhaps attached: English dialect lolly, the tongue, and gag, to deceive or trick. Whether that is right or not, the word sounds like what it describes. It dawdles on the tongue. It takes longer to say than it needs to.
It also has the advantage over most of the words on this list of being properly documented. Its neighbour dewdropper is shared as an old word for an idler and has no paperwork we could find. Lollygag has a date, two spellings and an argument about its origin — which is about as respectable as slang gets.
Where it comes from
Etymonline offers this with a 'perhaps' — the origin is not settled.
Myths & misconceptions
Lollygag is the original spelling.
Etymonline notes that 'lallygag' is attested earlier. Lollygag is the form that won, not the form that came first.
How it connects
- Dewdroppera word for the same idleness with no paper trail — lollygag has one.
Questions people ask
- What does lollygag mean?
- To dawdle, dally or waste time. It is American English, recorded from 1859.
- Lollygag or lallygag?
- Both are correct. Lallygag is attested earlier; lollygag is the more common form now.