Lamps  Eyes.

General. From 1590 (OED). Attested in Digger Dialects, Green and Partridge.

Originally poetical, and first used by Shakespeare, ‘lamps’ for ‘eyes’ was slang by the 19th century.

*Lance Corporal Bacon Bacon consisting of fat through which runs one thin streak of lean; resembles the stripe on the Lance Corporal’s sleeve.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Lance-Jack  Lance-Corporal.

General military. From 1912 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

‘Jack’ probably derives from its use in nautical contexts to refer to a sailor, and taken up in the Royal Navy to mean ‘other ranks’ (Partridge).

*Lay-an-Egg  (Of an aeroplane) Drop a bomb.

General Services’. From 1918 (OED).

PWWII notes that while this meant ‘dropping bombs’ in World War I, in World War II it was used of ‘laying mines (in enemy waters)’.

*Lazy-Lizz  A heavy long distance shell which passes overhead with a lazy drone. (Also called ‘Tired Theodore’.)

World War I. ‘Lazy Lizz’ attested here and in Digger Dialects; F&G and Partridge record ‘Lazy Eliza’.

F&G provide the following description for ‘Lazy Eliza’: ‘A trench expression for a long distance big shell, passing overhead and making a slow, rumbling sound in its flight – somewhat resembling the rumble of a late tram returning empty to its terminus.’

*Leadswinger  A person who schemes with the object of avoiding duty in a dangerous area, a malingerer.

General World War I. From 1918 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

‘To swing the lead’ was a popular Army phrase, and one who did such was known as a ‘leadswinger’. It alluded to ‘heaving the lead’, ‘taking a sounding to ascertain the depth of water’, apparently an easy task.

*Legs Eleven  (1) The number 11 in a game of House. (2) A thin tall man.

(1) General military. 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects, Green and Partridge.

(2) General military. 20th century (Partridge). Attested in Digger Dialects, F&G, Hargrave and Partridge.

(2) is a transferred sense of (1).

*Let Down  To deceive, fail, trick, omit to fulfill an obligation.

General. From early 1900s (OED).

This was a specific use of the sense ‘to disappoint’ (OED).

Lie-out Possy  The troops’ position when assembled in battle formation before attacking.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Possy became part of Australian English to refer to ‘a position of supposed advantage to the occupant’ but originated in the trenches of WWI as ‘an individual soldier’s place of shelter or firing position’ (AND). ‘Lie-out possy’ is a specific combination of this widely used term.

Limit  See ‘Dizzy Limit’.

General. From 1906 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

The ‘limit’ means ‘the very extreme; the last point or stage; the worst (etc.) imaginable or endurable; the maximum penalty’ (OED). It is found in several phrases, such as ‘to go the limit’ and ‘the dizzy limit’.

Line, The  The firing line; forward area.

General World War I. From 1916 (OED).

Line Up  An assemblage.

General. Originally US. From 1899 (OED).

Presumably this enjoyed some currency during World War I, due to the necessity of such assemblages.

Lingo  Language. Corruption of the word ‘Lingus’.

General. From 1660 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

OED defines ‘lingo’ thus: ‘A contemptuous designation for: Foreign speech or language; language which is strange or unintelligible to the person who so designates it; language peculiar to some special subject, or employed (whether properly or affectedly) by some particular class of persons’. Its origin is probably via Portuguese ‘lingoa’ from the Latin ‘lingua’, meaning ‘tongue’ (NODE).

*Little Bit of Eyes Right  A girl.

World War I. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Arthur and Ramson in Digger Dialects note that this is a ‘jocular use of the military command eyes right! “turn one’s head and eyes to the right in salute.”’

*Little Hell  Three two-pip cards in a game of ‘Poker’.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

This probably derives from the fact that this is a very poor hand to be dealt in Poker.

Lit-up  (1) Drunk. (2) A man suffering from venereal disease.

(1) General. Originally US. From 1899 (Lighter). Attested in numerous sources.

(2) This sense attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

Lizzie  A warship of the same class as H.M.S. ‘Queen Elizabeth’.

This sense attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

F&G record this as a term for a big gun, ‘a term originating at the Dardanelles and suggested by the firing of the big fifteen-inch guns of H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth.’ Partridge suggests that ‘Lizzie’ was also ‘a Royal Navy nickname for the HMS Queen Elizabeth’.

Lob  (1) A Policeman, one who goes out of his way to report breaches of discipline or law. (2) ‘To Lob’, to arrive.

(1) Not otherwise recorded.

(2) General Australian. From 1911 (AND).

This Australian sense is transferred from the standard ‘lob’ meaning ‘to move heavily or clumsily’ (AND).

*Lock-Suey  Rain.

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.

*Lolly  (1) Something easy. (2) A person easy to trick or overcome.

(1) General Australian (Baker). Attested in Baker, F&G, and Partridge.

(2) General Australian (Baker). Attested in Baker, F&G, Lawson and Partridge.

Lord Nelson  The three aces in a game of ‘Poker’. (See ‘three ones’.)

General. Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not otherwise recorded.