ON THE LAM

'On the lam' or 'on the run' refers to the state of being wanted and fleeing to avoid capture. Usually, one "on the lam" has been accused of a crime and is wanted by a form of law enforcement.

Contents

Etymology

Examples in fiction

Use in popular culture

External links

References

Etymology

"Lam" means "thrash" or "beat soundly," from the Icelandic, "lemje". The imagery is that one beats the path with one's feet while fleeing quickly.
Properly, it stems from a Norwegian/Icelandic language group which, in turn, derives from a Northern Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, where the Englishes (Modern from Middle from Old) come from Low German, coming from a Western Germanic branch of the Germanic languages. Merriam-Webster's describes the etymology as "of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse lemje to thrash; akin to Old English lama lame Date: 1595."
Mencken's ''The American Language'' and ''The Thesaurus of American Slang'' proclaim that 'lam', 'lammister' and "on the lam" — all referring to a hasty departure — were common in thieves' slang before the turn of the Twentieth Century. Mencken quotes a newspaper report on the origin of 'lam' which actually traces it indirectly back to Shakespeare's time.
The Sage of Baltimore also quotes a story from the ''New York Herald Tribune'' in 1938 which reported that "one of the oldest police officers in New York said that he had heard "on the lam" thirty years ago."

Examples in fiction

Several fictional stories have dealt with characters being "on the lam" as a part of a main theme, story arc or subplot. The Fugitive, a television series and its 1993 film adaptation have their protagonist on the run for most of the storyline's duration. puts the title character on the lam for only part of the story, and the character eventually escapes capture permanently.

Use in popular culture

Stephen Colbert recently did a segment called "Monkey on the Lam" for his show The Colbert Report. This segment first appeared on Monday August 13, 2007 as part of the regular segment the "Threatdown". ^[1] "Monkey on the Lam appeared again on Wednesday August 15th, 2007 when the monkey in question escaped again. ^[2]

External links

★ "On the lam" versus "On the lamb"

References

1. http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=91490&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/most_recent/index.jhtml%3Fstart%3D16&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true
2. http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=91553&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/most_recent/index.jhtml%3Fstart%3D1&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true