light in the loafers

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

US, 1967.[1][2]

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

light in the loafers (comparative more light in the loafers, superlative most light in the loafers)

  1. (idiomatic, slang, derogatory, euphemistic) Gay; homosexual.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:homosexual
    • 1980, Helen Van Slyke, No Love Lost, New York: Lippincott & Crowell, page 203:
      Men of my group are either married or, as S.P. would say, ‘light in the loafers.’ Homosexuals, you'd call them.
    • 1981, Heywood Gould, Glitterburn, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 98:
      You'll make a nice living; and maybe when you're sixty you'll marry a nice guy, a little light in the loafers maybe, but you'll still be pure by then; and you'll do the grand-lady bit, and he’ll be your escort.
    • 2007, Lesley Kagen, Whistling In the Dark‎, Penguin, →ISBN:
      “What about Father Jim and Mr. Gary?” Mary Lane said, passing by me, “They are light in the loafers together.”
  2. (idiomatic, slang, derogatory, dated, obsolete) Crazy or eccentric.

Translations
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References
  1. Eric Partridge (2007) “light in the loafers”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 400.
  2. Jonathon Green (2024) “light in the loafers adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
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