DeDanaan

Limerick : This form of verse — short, humorous, often nonsensical, and frequently bawdy — has existed since 1820, but became, and has remained, widely popular after the appearance of Edward Lear’s The Book of Nonsense (1846). Its name may come from the city of Limerick, Ireland, where it was the custom at parties to compose and sing nonsensical verses on the spur of the moment. A limerick consists of five lines; the first two and the fifth of which rhyme, as do the third and fourth, which are also shorter.

The first deliberate creation to match limerick form is usually considered Tom o’ Bedlam (c. 1600):

From the hag and hungry goblin
That into rags would rend thee

And the spirit that stands
by the naked man,

In the book of the moons defend yee.

And here’s another example:

The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.

But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean

And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

Lurker : In Earth’s ancient Internet slang, a lurker was a person who stayed in the shadows in forums, mailing lists, chatrooms, IRC channels, in Usenet, and other communities online. Lurkers seldom even say “Hello” or “How do you do?,” preferring to stay behind the scenes like sponges in the seabed absorbing all their brainfood. Lurkers can sometimes be very creepy because one never knows if a lurker is truly a lurker, or merely a stalker in disguise… or perhaps an ex-girlfriend, or boyfriend… or someone trying to harvest email addresses to send out SPAM designed to send the recipient into paroxyms of rage trying to keep their mailboxes and web sites clean of such shite.

In the Great Game of Life, all lurkers automagically get 26 minutes cancelled from their lifespan for each forum they lurk in. We think. Our informants in the Elven Cabal (which doesn’t actually exist, or so we’re told), told us that maxim, so one can never be quite sure.

*smirk*

Lámhfadha, Lugh (of the Long Arm); Llew or Lleu [Welsh]; Lugus or Lugos [Gaulish]; Lughnasadh : pron. (loo)

1. Son of Cian and Ethniu; grandson of Balor; fostered by Manannán Mac Lir and Tailtiu; father, by Dectera, of Cúchullain; A god of many skills, some say the god of all skills; cognate with a sun god. He was the guardian of the spear of Gorias which never missed it’s mark and killed all opponents. He was also called Samildanach (sôh’vil dàn’ah, meaning many skills). He later went on to fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his grandfather, when he slew Balor of the Evil Eye at the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh (Moytura). Lugh’s last appearance seems to have been in a magical mist when Conn of the Hundred Battles (high chieftain, AD 177-212) saw him. Lugh foretold how many children Conn would have and the length of his reign. When the old gods were driven underground, Lugh was given the sídhe of Rodrubán by the Dagda.

Over the years, Lugh’s legendary image was slowly diminished in the minds of the people until he became simply a faery craftsman named Lugh-chromain, ‘little stooping Lugh,’ which became Anglicized as Leprechaun, the shoemaker. He is a folk-variant of the Fir Dhearga or the Red Men and, like them, indulges in jokes at mortals’ expense, while guarding a treasure of gold. The leprechaun is now all that most people know of Lugh, whose name is remembered in the many place names across many lands, not just Ireland.

2. Lughnasadh : Celebrated on August 1st, this Celtic festival marked the season of harvest and was the Feast of Lugh. Lugh created it to commemorate his foster-mother Tailtiu, a goddess of the land, who died laboring to clear the plains of Ireland for agricultural use. Games were held in her honor at Teltown, animals and produce were sold, and temporary marriages were entered into, with no binding contract, although many such marriages endured. Early records claim the feast was celebrated for fifteen days. Christianity usurped this festival and called it Lammas, the feast of first fruits.

Lintilla : Found by Arthur Dent on the planet Brontitall, Lintilla is a clone. That is, there are five hundred seventy eight thousand million clones named Lintilla. The problem of the five hundred seventy eight thousand million Lintilla clones is very simple to explain and rather harder to solve. Cloning machines have of course been around for a long time and have proved very useful for reproducing particularly talented or attractive people. One particular cloning machine was asked to produce six copies of a wonderfully talented and attractive girl called Lintilla for a Brantisvogan escort agency, while another machine was busy creating five hundred lonely business executives in order to keep the laws of supply and demand operating profitably. The machine got badly out of sync with itself, however, and it malfunctioned in such a way that it got halfway through creating each new Lintilla before the previous one was actually completed, which meant, quite simply, that it was impossible ever to turn it off, without committing murder.

Life : 1. Is much like a burrito. Its simple exterior wrap contains a subtle mystery in which the consumption thereof will give anyone a random gastro-intestinal event between the hours of 1 and 2 am.

Leisciúil : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “LESH-kyoo-il”
1. Lazy; slothful
2. Reluctant
3. Shy

Leabhar : (Gaeilge-Irish) pron. “LOU-wuhr”
1. Book

Lawyers : Small epidermal parasites that are opportunists and will feed on any suitable host. See “Ticks”

Lámh : (Gaeilge - Irish) pron. “law*v”
1. Hand; arm
2. Of action with hands; share in action
3. Of dealing; engagement
4. Of undertaking; responsibility
5. Of skill; prowess
6. Of association; influence
7. Of striking; gripping
8. Of custody; protection
9. Of control; care
10. Of pledge; promise
11. Handwriting
12. Cards
13. Measure of a horse