LAZY AS LUDLAM’S (or DAVID LAURENCE’S) DOG, phr. (old).—Excessively indolent; see quots. Also ‘Lazy as Joe the marine who laid down his musket to sneeze.’
1670. RAY, Proverbs, s.v.
1678. COTTON, Scarronides, Note. ’Tis a proverb, Ludlam’s dog leaned his head against a wall when he went to bark.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. LAZY. AS LAZY AS LUDLAM’S DOG, who leaned against the wall to bark. As lazy as the tinker, who laid down his budget to f—t.
