Wednesday Words ~ lollygag, dillydally, dawdle

To lollygag means to dillydally, dawdle, or waste time.  Lollygag goes back to 1868, but dillydally is older (1741).  Dawdle, which came to my mind while reading a thread on Facebook about the first two words, goes all the way back to 1656.  Thanks, Merriam-Webster.com.

Looking for an illustration, I found a Jim Hunt cartoon of a person sprawled on a sofa clicking through TV channels.  "Some people lollygag.  I'm more of a dilly-dallier."  (The hyphen is a mistake.)

I found a Pickles cartoon where the grandson is staring at the old man sitting in a chair.  Puzzled, he asks, "What are you staring at, Nelson?"  The kid says, "You.  Grandma said you were lollygagging.  I wanted to see what that looked like.  It sounded like more fun than it looks like."

I also found a Family Circus cartoon where the mother says, "Hurry up, Jeffy!  You're being a dawdler!"  His comeback:  "No, I'm being a son."

Since cats have perfected the art, I ultimately chose to illustrate this post with a photo of Clawdia lollygagging on the back of my recliner.  Pictures of Clawdia are better than cartoons, anyway.