"Layabout" and "lazy-ass" (noun and adjective respectively) are used for someone who is expected to perform and simply neglects to do so.
A "vegetable" is someone who, through some disability, is incapable of significant movement and thought. carriegood's mom was using it in a hyperbolic way, just joking.
A bum is, strictly speaking, a homeless beggar who wanders around asking for handouts and sometimes is willing to work in return. You mostly hear it spoken as, "You lazy bum," where the speaker is comparing his target to a good-for-nothing vagrant loser.
"Slacker," my personal favorite, is a newish word used by younger people to refer to someone who just never tried very hard to do well for himself in the first place.
"Lump" and "slug" are old (but still good!) words that a Renaissance speaker would completely understand. They just compare the target to something slow, dull, and useless.
"Flaneur?" Is that English? I don't think that's English.
And drone means to make a low humming sound. And slouch means to droop into a relaxed posture. And drag means to trail along on the ground. And bum means buttocks. And vegetable is something you eat. And lump is a mass. And slug means to hit, or is it a slimy mollusk?
Yes, schlep or shlep is also a verb. But still, we are talking about slang. In various regions, slang differs. Where I come from, shlep is an insult meaning lazy person or deadbeat.
A "schlemiel" is more of a stupid person... unless it is used to describe a lazy person in your region, Speedwell.
chad
July 29, 2004, 11:38pm
A 'couch potato' is a term for a lathargic person who is not associated with any form of aerobic activity.
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Dave (unregistered)
July 30, 2004, 4:59am
Layabout
Lazy-ass
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carriegood (unregistered)
July 30, 2004, 8:22pm
my mom always called me a vegetable.
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liz (unregistered)
August 1, 2004, 7:01pm
a bum
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Chance Likely (unregistered)
August 4, 2004, 10:24am
Slacker.
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arana (unregistered)
August 14, 2004, 4:52am
"lump"
"slug"
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ishtarbaba (unregistered)
August 21, 2004, 9:22pm
"Flaneur."
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speedwell2
August 23, 2004, 12:12am
OK, to sort these...
"Layabout" and "lazy-ass" (noun and adjective respectively) are used for someone who is expected to perform and simply neglects to do so.
A "vegetable" is someone who, through some disability, is incapable of significant movement and thought. carriegood's mom was using it in a hyperbolic way, just joking.
A bum is, strictly speaking, a homeless beggar who wanders around asking for handouts and sometimes is willing to work in return. You mostly hear it spoken as, "You lazy bum," where the speaker is comparing his target to a good-for-nothing vagrant loser.
"Slacker," my personal favorite, is a newish word used by younger people to refer to someone who just never tried very hard to do well for himself in the first place.
"Lump" and "slug" are old (but still good!) words that a Renaissance speaker would completely understand. They just compare the target to something slow, dull, and useless.
"Flaneur?" Is that English? I don't think that's English.
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ronhatcher (unregistered)
December 4, 2004, 6:35am
Goldbrick or goldbricker. May be military in origin, but once commonly used to describe someone who didn't "pull his weight."
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ladylucy (unregistered)
December 4, 2004, 9:09am
deadbeat, goof-off, lazy-bones, drone, drag, waste, shlep, good-for-nothing, lounger, slouch
"Deadbeat" is my favorite. Although it can be used to simply mean "a lazy person," it is often used to refer to someone who doesn't pay up.
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panama (unregistered)
December 4, 2004, 10:57am
"shlep" doesn't belong in the list of laziness expressives. To "schlep" means to move from one place to another, usually carrying something unwieldy.
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speedwell2
December 6, 2004, 8:00am
I think the word wanted is "schlemiel."
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ladylucy (unregistered)
December 6, 2004, 2:12pm
And drone means to make a low humming sound. And slouch means to droop into a relaxed posture.
And drag means to trail along on the ground.
And bum means buttocks.
And vegetable is something you eat.
And lump is a mass.
And slug means to hit, or is it a slimy mollusk?
Yes, schlep or shlep is also a verb. But still, we are talking about slang. In various regions, slang differs. Where I come from, shlep is an insult meaning lazy person or deadbeat.
A "schlemiel" is more of a stupid person... unless it is used to describe a lazy person in your region, Speedwell.
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