light in the loafers

English

Alternative forms

light in the sneakers

Etymology

US, 1967.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)
Audio (US): (file)

Adjective

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

(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^[1], Penguin, →ISBN:
  “What about Father Jim and Mr. Gary?” Mary Lane said, passing by me, “They are light in the loafers together.”
(idiomatic, slang, derogatory, dated, obsolete) Crazy or eccentric.

Translations

homosexual — see also homosexual

Chinese:
Mandarin: (no exact equivalent exists) 死基佬 (sǐ jīlǎo, literally “damn gay guy”)
Finnish: ruskean reiän ritari (fi)
Russian: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Russian: голубо́й (ru) m (golubój)

References

^ 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.
^ “light in the loafers adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

[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] “light in the loafers adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

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