# Do you understand, and did you ever use the expression 'L 7'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960 "2003-07-16T19:42:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/1 "2003-07-16T19:42:44Z")
I understand this expression means “out of it”, or “square”, from the way you can up the thumb and forefinger of one hand to make an “L” and the other hand to make a “7”, forming a rough square. My first thought on learning of this was that, if you’re actually going to go through the physical gyrations to make this gesture, it’s a lot of effort to go through to just to cast aspersions on someone’s lack of hipness. My second thought was that the verbal expression must have died out in the 1950’s, but James Lileks, who was too young to have experienced the 1950’s uses the term in his latest [Bleat](http://www.lileks.com/bleats/index.html). So what I’d like to know is, did you ever use or see the hand gesture, or use the verbal expression? And during what decade? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/2 "2003-07-16T20:22:10Z")
I first heard of it in the 80’s, as something used in the 50’s. I did not hear it when I was a kid in the 50’s. It strikes me as contrived, and it doesn’t surprise me it wasn’t used much. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/3 "2003-07-16T21:15:02Z")
I never heard “square” in the L7 format. In MY day, you drew an invisible square, starting at the center of the top of the square, and rounding the corners to end up at the center of the bottom of the square. It was already outdated in the early 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/4 "2003-07-16T21:38:11Z")
“Let’s not be L7, come and learn to dance; Wooley Bulley” Sam The Sham and The Pharoahs ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/5 "2003-07-16T22:22:00Z")
See and for some reason i thought this would have somethign to do with the all female punk band L7 of the “smell the magic” and “hungry for stink” fame. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/6 "2003-07-16T23:03:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > \*\*“Let’s not be L7, come and learn to dance; > Wooley Bulley” Sam The Sham and The Pharoahs \*\* Circa 1965, and a standard on oldies stations. But that was the only place I ever heard the phrase, and I didn’t know what it meant until about 5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-understand-and-did-you-ever-use-the-expression-l-7/188960/7 "2003-07-16T23:14:07Z")
FWIW, McCartney includes it in his song **“C-Moon”**. To wit: _It Will Be L7 And I’d Never Get To Heaven If I Filled My Head With Glue_ Come on, you remember that one don’t you?