Landing Zone. Originally came into use during the Vietnam
War to address the area where a
helicopter would be a landing. A "hot LZ" is a zone in which
charlie still had a significant presence, and thus was dangerous to land in.
Since Vietnam, the term has come into the modern vernacular to mean any bad, rough, or uncomfortable situation.
1. Request to land denied, that LZ is hot, repeat, that sector is Victor
Charlie.
2. I was riding
dirty the other
night when I drove right into a police sobriety checkpoint. Talk about a hot LZ.