Lackadaisical
65According to the World Wide Words-Michael Quinion Writes on International English from a British Standpoint, lackadaisical means:
"Lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
This word origintes from an old saying of regret or dismay, lack-a-day!, which is a shortened form of alack-a-day!. Alack dates back to medieval times. The word lackadaisy appeared in the 18th century. The first person recorded as using it was Laurence Sterne, in his Sentimental Journey of 1768. Later it moved towards the idea of somebody who was affectedly languishing, and thence to someone merely lazy."
According to the Websters Dictionary Online.org site, the word lackadiasical is entered into internet search engines an average of five times a day.
Why Am I Writing About the Word Lackadaisical?
I received a copy of an email today where someone was asking my assistant to be sure and do something on Monday in an expeditious way. I jokingly turned to her and said, "what? rather than the lackadaisical way we usually do it?" It gave us a nice chuckle at the end of the week.
But, it got me to thinking. I don't believe I have ever, in my 46 years, written or typed the word lackadaisical. I wasn't even sure how to spell it. So, I decided that this under-used and unappreciated word needed its own hub. This is for you, Lackadaisical!
When I Met Lackadaisical
Lackadaisical and I met in the early 2000s. I was introduced to Lackadaisical by my boss. He liked to use him to describe some of our co-workers who didn't seem to want to adhere to the deadlines we had. He referred to their attitude as Lackadaisical.
Once introduced to Lackadaisical, I actually began to spot him in quite a few places. He showed up more and more in the people around me. Why didn't anyone care about things in the same way I did? I noticed Lackadaisical began hanging out with his cousin, Complacency.
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They Gather Friends
Lackadaisical and Complacency aren't a good pair. When you spot the two of them out and about together you can expecting Whining to join them. Whining is loud and obnoxious, you can't miss him. He talks non-stop in a nagging voice. Lackadaisical and Complacency just stand there with blank looks on their faces. Come to think of it, they always have that "light's on, but nobody's home" look on their faces.
My advice is to steer clear of all thre of them. They are nothing but trouble.
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It makes me think of lazy daisies....that's the reason for the droopy daisies in the pictures above. :) Thanks for stopping by Dolores. Glad you enjoyed it.
Well, KCC, thanks for formally introducing me to Lackadaisical, I was aquinted to cousins Whining and Complacency, but had never met this L fellow before :-) Whaddaya know, always learning something new!
Lackadaisical isn't so bad by himself. Whining is the worst. At least Complacency is quiet. Glad I was able to introduce you. :)
KCC, I love your hubs. Have you made it to 30 yet? Hope not, cause I really look forward to reading them. This is really special!
I'm so glad you enjoy them, alekhouse! I have done 28 now. I just need 2 more in the next week and a half. I have altered my goal a tad since I started. I just need 7 more hubs to have 100 total. That is my goal. I hope to whoop out a couple today.
I've always thought that while 'lazy' somehow indicates a choice, 'lackadaisical' is a more sort of helpless, apathetic condition. When I choose to be lazy I could be quite enthusiastic and cheerful about it...not so when I'm feeling lackadaisical. :P
I tend to see both of them as a choice. Lazy seems more like a desire not to do something, where is lackadaisical is more of a lack of concern, or total disregard.
Thanks for stopping by Feline Prophet,
Wow girl you do throw them big ol' words around willie-nillie! Toss a few here, toss a few there!!! I shall rise up post-haste and just say "NO!" to Lackadaisical!
I love that word!
Candiie & Cindy: I just thought it would be fun to use the word in a hub. It sure is a long word and as I said in the hub, I had never written the word or even thought about how to spell it until Friday.
I like that word, I mean the sound of it. I can say it over and over again and never tire of how it rolls out of the tongue. That said, I agree that most states of mind or behavior are contagious. Interesting hub :D
I like it too Cris.....I just can't say it too many times in a row real fast without getting tongue-tied....LOL Glad you enjoyed it.....it's not my usually type of hub....but just came up.
Like this hub :) One of my old Mum's words. She used FIREBALLER a lot also. Ever heard of that one?
Glad you enjoyed it Ethel! I haven't heard of Fireballer. I think you should write a hub about it and share it with all of us!
Dolores Monet Level 7 Commenter 2 years ago
Interesting hub on a really funny word. I kind of like lackadaisical, it sounds like somebody laying in the grass looking at the clouds.