In Common Lisp:

a list (lambda () (print :foo)) is not code:

  CL-USER 10 > (let ((l '(lambda () (print :foo))))
                 (funcall l))
  
  Error: Argument to apply/funcall is not a function: (LAMBDA NIL (PRINT :FOO)).

But the unquoted lambda form is code, since Common Lisp has a LAMBDA macro

  CL-USER 13 > (let ((l (lambda () (print :foo))))
                 (funcall l))

  :FOO 
  :FOO

The LAMBDA macro transforms it into a FUNCTION special form with an embedded lambda expression:

  CL-USER 14 > (macroexpand-1 '(lambda () (print :foo)))
  (FUNCTION (LAMBDA NIL (PRINT :FOO)))

Thus in Common Lisp we can evaluate:

a) the special form FUNCTION:

  (FUNCTION (LAMBDA () (PRINT :FOO)))

b) the same, but using #' as a short version:

  #'(LAMBDA () (PRINT :FOO))

c) or the macro LAMBDA, which expands into a)

  (LAMBDA () (PRINT :FOO))