Where does the word lolly gag come from originally?

Answer 1

Looking on the World Wide Words website, it looks like it started as an insult for people who were being too smarmy and affectionate in public. In other words, too much PDA (PDA means Public Displays of Affection). Here is the article: http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-lol1.htm

Answer 2

Lolly gag, lollygag, lolligag, lallygag, etc., all derive from American English (1862); lolly "tongue", and "gag" to decieve, trick. :

Answer 3

In the sense "dawdle, dally," 1862, lallygag, American English, perhaps from (carnival dialectic) lolly as "tongue" + gag as "deceive, trick" from the hawkings of barkers for custom.