Lousy Once Meant Infested With Lice
A louse is a small parasitic insect. The adjective lousy has drifted so far that few connect it with the insect any more.
A louse is a small wingless parasitic insect living on skin or hair. *Lousy* meant literally infested with lice, and its journey to meaning simply bad is complete enough that the connection is invisible: a lousy film has nothing to do with parasites. The same weakening turned *awful* from full of awe into merely bad. The plural is *lice*, one of the handful of English words that change their vowel instead of adding s.
- A parasitic insect. *Head lice.*
- A contemptible person. *He's a louse.*
- Lousy — bad. *A lousy result.*
- Nit — a louse egg. *Nits in the hair.*
- Lice — the plural. *Treating lice.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | louse | One louse. |
| Plural | lice | Head lice. |
| Adjective | lousy | Lousy weather. |
| Related | nit | A nit. |
| Old English | lus | A louse. |
- The school sent a note about head lice.Parasite.
- It was a lousy film.Weakened sense.
- Nitpicking means removing louse eggs.Idiom origin.
Where nitpicking comes from
- Nits are louse eggs, glued firmly to individual hairs
- Removing them requires going strand by strand
- Nitpicking therefore means fussing over tiny details
- Nitty-gritty is unrelated, of uncertain origin
- Nit as an insult for a fool is a separate British use
Old English *lus*, plural *lys*, from a Germanic root. The plural preserves an ancient vowel change.
Why does lousy mean bad?
It originally meant infested with lice. The literal sense faded and left only the general disapproval.
What is a nit?
The egg of a louse, cemented to a hair. Removing them one by one is the source of nitpicking.