Terms and Style Items - "L"

Labor Advisory Committee
See "National Labor Advisory Committee."

Lamb Award
An award given through the Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. to Lutheran laity and pastors who have rendered exceptional service to youth through Scouting.

Law of the Pack
The Cub Scout follows Akela.
The Cub Scout helps the pack go.
The pack helps the Cub Scout grow.
The Cub Scout gives goodwill.

Law, the Scout
See "Scout Law."

LDS Church
Do not use this abbreviation. See "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

leader
See "officer," "professional Scouter," "unit leader," and "volunteer."

leader-specific training
The basic course of training for adult leaders, beginning with New Leader Essentials and progressing to leader-specific courses such as Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training and Varsity Coach and Assistant Coach Leader Specific Training.

Leadership Award
Available to youth and adult volunteers registered and involved in Venturing. The Venturing Leadership Award is presented by councils, areas/regions, and the BSA National Council to Venturers and adult volunteers who have made exceptional contributions to Venturing and who exemplify the Venturing Code and Oath.

Leadership Update
A supplemental training experience for Cub Scout leaders conducted monthly by the district.

Leave No Trace
The BSA is committed to this nationally recognized outdoor skills and ethics awareness program to reduce impacts on the environment and other people. The seven principles should be followed at all times in the outdoors: Plan ahead and prepare; camp and travel on durable surfaces; pack it in, pack it out; leave what you find; minimize campfire use; respect wildlife; and respect others. When used as an adjective, capitalize and do not hyphenate: "Follow all Leave No Trace principles in the backcountry."

Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines
See "Cub Scout Leave No Trace Pledge."

Legacy of Servant Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award
An honor given by the Order of the Arrow.

librarian
A Scout who supervises the use of troop-owned books; appointed by the senior patrol leader with the Scoutmaster's advice and consent.

Life Scout
The rank below Eagle Scout and above Star Scout.

Lifeguard BSA
See "BSA Lifeguard."

lifesaving awards
See "Heroism Award," "Honor Medal," and "National Court of Honor."

-like
Do not use a hyphen unless the "l" is tripled: "businesslike," "lifelike," "shell-like."

lists
In an enumerated list that is run into the text, enclose numbers in parentheses and do not introduce the list with a colon unless using the words "the following" or some such: "For lunch he ate (1) a sandwich, (2) dried apricots, and (3) a Twinkie." "For lunch he ate the following: (1) a sandwich, (2) dried apricots, and (3) a Twinkie."

Other examples:

  • "Her lunch included the following: a sandwich, dried apricots, and a Twinkie." (Use a colon.)
    BUT
    "Her lunch included a sandwich, dried apricots, and a Twinkie." (No colon.)
  • "The following procedures are not covered:
    Skilled home health care
    A private nurse CAT scan"
    (Note: No periods after the listed items; use of a colon to introduce because of the use of "the following"; use of capital letters for the listed items)
  • "The procedures that are not covered include
    Skilled home health care
    A private nurse
    CAT scan"
    (Note: No colon to introduce the listed items.)
  • "After careful investigation, the health insurance provider concluded that
    • the skilled home health care was unnecessary,
    • the private nurse overcharged,
    • the CAT scan was too expensive."
    (Note: The listed items complete the sentence so they begin with lowercase letters and are separated by commas. No punctuation is used to introduce the list. In a vertical list such as this one, "and" is unnecessary in the listed items; however, you would use it if the list were not vertical: "After careful investigation, the health insurance provider concluded that the skilled home health care was unnecessary, the private nurse overcharged, and the CAT scan was too expensive.")
  • "After careful investigation, the health insurance provider concluded several things:
    1. The home health care was unnecessary.
    2. The private nurse overcharged.
    3. The CAT scan was too expensive."
    • (The listed items are each a sentence in and of themselves, so they begin with a capital letter and end with a period.)

Living Circle
A Cub Scout ceremony. See the Cub Scout Leader Book.

loaned executive
A full-time or part-time person whose salary, including benefits, is paid directly by the "loaning" organization but who is temporarily assigned, by the primary employer, to perform a specific assignment (other than an approved professional position) for the Boy Scouts of America.

local council
An administrative body chartered by the National Council to be responsible for Scouting in a designated geographic territory. Voting membership may include active members at large and chartered organization representatives. The program is directed by an executive board of volunteers and administered by a Scout executive and staff of professional Scouters. There are about 300 local councils in the United States. The number changes as councils merge and split. The term council is not capitalized except in the name of a specific council. Combinations: "councilwide," "Quivira Council," "council executive board," "Longhorn Council Executive Board." See "executive board" and "National Council."

Local Council Certificate of Merit
This may be awarded for meritorious actions that do not qualify for the National Certificate of Merit. See "Heroism Award," "Honor Medal," "Medal of Merit," and "National Certificate of Merit."

local council service center
See "service center."

local tour permit
See "tour permit."

lodge
A local council Order of the Arrow group chartered annually by the National Council. A large lodge may be organized into chapters.

Lone Boy Scout
A Boy Scout who, unable to join a troop because of unusual conditions, follows the program as an individual under the leadership of a Lone Scout friend and counselor. See also "Lone Cub Scout."

Lone Boy Scout friend and counselor
A Scouter who works with a Lone Scout.

Lone Cub Scout
A Cub Scout who, unable to join a pack because of unusual conditions, follows the program as an individual under the leadership of a Lone Cub Scout friend and counselor. See also "Lone Boy Scout."

Lone Cub Scout friend and counselor
A Cub Scouter who works with a Lone Cub Scout.

-long
When in doubt, consult a dictionary, but usually no hyphen: yearlong, weeklong.

Long Cruise arc
A red Long Cruise arc worn over the Long Cruise badge represents an additional two-week cruise. When five have been completed, the red arcs are replaced by one white arc.

Long Cruise badge
An award given to Sea Scouts of Ordinary rank who have completed a two-week cruise.

long-term camping
A camping experience consisting of five or more consecutive days and nights in the outdoors.

loss prevention
Preventing accidents, reducing injuries, and minimizing costs, both personal and financial, are the objectives of the BSA's emphasis on loss prevention.

low-impact ethic
See "Leave No Trace."

lunchoree
A fund-raising luncheon, usually industry oriented.

Lutheran churches
The three major Lutheran bodies in the United States merged in 1988 to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is a separate and distinct body.

-ly
Do not use a hyphen between adverbs ending in "-ly" and the adjectives they modify: "an easily remembered rule," "a badly damaged car."