#76764
07/23/2002 4:16 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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O'asis A perfect o'asis. A fertile spot in the midst of a desert country, a little charmed plot of land. The
reference is to those spots in the desert of Africa where wells of water or small lakes are to be found, and
vegetation is pretty abundant. (Coptic word, called by Herodotos auasis.)
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#76765
07/23/2002 4:31 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Occam (William of), surnamed Doctor Singularis et Invincibilis. He was the great advocate of
Nominalism. (1270-1347.)
Occam's Razor Entia non sunt multiplicanda (entities are not to be multiplied). With this axiom Occam
dissected every question as with a razor.
Previously referred to several times in AWADtalk, but without explanation.
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#76766
07/23/2002 4:43 PM
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Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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WW, i would use the word tam for a hat, made of cloth. The top of the hat would be a circle, and it would have sides of bias cut cloth, about 1 to 2 inches.. the sides would be finished in a leather binding, and have draw string to adjust the fit. A Tam may or may not be trimmed with a tassle or pom pom on the center top. A Tam o' Shanter, specifically, would be a Tam made from plaid or tartan cloth.
a beret, while similar in shape, and appearence, would be a one piece hat, formed of felt, with a self bound edge, and usually is a solid color.
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#76767
07/24/2002 2:45 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Off (Saxon, of; Latin, ab, from, away). The house is a mile off- i.e. is “away” or “from” us a mile. The
word preceding off defines its scope. To be “well off” is to be away or on the way towards well-being; to
be badly off is to be away or on the way to the bad. In many cases “off” is part of a compound verb, as
to cut-off (away), to peel-off, to march-off, to tear-off, to take-off, to get-off, etc. The off-side of horses
when in pairs is that to the right hand of the coachman, the horses on his left -hand side are called the
“near” horses. This, which seems rather anomalous, arises from the fact that all teamsters walk beside
their teams on the left side, so that the horses on the left side are near him, and those on the right side are
farther off.
He is well off; he is badly off. He is in good circumstances; he is straitened in circumstances, étre bien
[or mal] dans ses affaires. In these phrases “off” means fares, “he fares well [or ill]; his affairs go-off
well [or ill]. (Anglo-Saxon, of-faran.
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#76768
07/24/2002 2:49 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Oghams The alphabet in use among the ancient Irish and some other Celtic nations prior to the ninth
“The oghams seem to have been merely tree-runes. The Irish regarded the oghams as a forest,
the individual characters being trees (feada), while each cross-stroke is called a twig (fleasg).”-
Isaac Taylor: The Alphabet, vol. ii. chap. viii. p. 226.
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#76769
07/24/2002 2:59 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Old Dominion Virginia. Every Act of Parliament to the Declaration of Independence designated Virginia
“the Colony and Dominion of Virginia.” Captain John Smith, in his History of Virginia (1629), calls this
“colony and dominion” Ould Virginia, in contradistinction to New England, and other British settlements.
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#76770
07/24/2002 3:02 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Old Style- New Style Old Style means computed according to the unreformed calendar. New Style
means computed according to the calendar reformed and corrected by Gregory XIII. in 1582. The New
Style was introduced into England, in 1752, during the reign of George II., when Wednesday, September
2nd, was followed by Thursday, September 14th. This has given rise to a double computation, as Lady
Day, March 25th, Old Lady Day, April 6th; Midsummer Day, June 24th, Old Midsummer Day, July 6th;
Michaelmas Day, September 29th, Old Michaelmas Day, October 11th; Christmas Day, December 25th,
Old Christmas Day, January 6th.
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#76771
07/24/2002 3:12 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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O'lio or Oglio. A mixture or medley of any sort. (Spanish, olla, a pot for boiling similar to what the
French call their pot au feu. The olio is the mixture of bread, vegetables, spices, meat, etc., boiled in this
pot.)
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#76772
07/24/2002 3:18 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Olia Podrida Odds and ends, a mixture of scraps. In Spain it takes the place of the French pot au feu,
into which every sort of eatable is thrown and stewed. (See Olio. ) Used figuratively, the term means an
incongruous mixture, a miscellaneous collection of any kind, a medley.
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#76773
07/24/2002 3:23 PM
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O'mega The alpha and omega. The first and the last, the beginning and the end. Alpha is the first and
omega the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
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#76774
07/24/2002 3:28 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Omphale (3 syl.). The masculine but attractive Queen of Lydia, to whom Hercules was bound a slave for
three years. He fell in love with her, and led an effeminate life spinning wool, while Omphale wore the
lion's skin and was lady paramount.
The celebrated picture of Hercules spinning in the presence of Omphale, by Annibal Carracei, is in the
Farnese Gallery.
"Omphale" sounds like root of "navel". I wonder what the connection is. Comments?
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#76775
07/24/2002 3:30 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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On dit (French). A rumour, a report; as, “There is an on dit on Exchange that Spain will pay up its back
dividends.”
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#76776
07/24/2002 3:33 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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O'nus (Latin). The burden, the blame, the responsibility; as, “The whole onus must rest on your own
shoulders.”
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#76777
07/24/2002 3:34 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Onyx is Greek for a finger-nail; so called because the colour of an onyx resembles that of the finger-nail.
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#76778
07/24/2002 3:36 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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O'pal From the Greek ops (the eye). Considered unlucky for the same reason that peacocks' feathers in a
house are said to be unlucky. A peacock's feather, being full of eyes, act as spies in a house, prying into
one's privacy. Similarly, it is unlucky to introduce the eye-stone or opal into a house, because it will
interfere with the sanctity of domestic privacy
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#76779
07/24/2002 3:49 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Orca The Orkney Islands, or Orcades.
I wonder about the etymology of this name, what relationship if any to "orca" the killer whale.
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#76780
07/24/2002 3:51 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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Orchard properly means a kitchen garden, a yard for herbs. (Saxon, ortgeard- i.e. wort-yard.) Wort
enters into the names of numerous herbs, as mug-wort, liver-wort, spleen-wort, etc.
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#76781
07/24/2002 3:53 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Orcus The abode of the dead; death. (Roman mythology.)
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#76782
07/24/2002 3:57 PM
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Ordeal (Saxon, great judgment), instituted long before the Conquest, and not abolished till the reign of
Henry III.
Ordeals were of several kinds, but the most usual were by wager of battle, by hol or cold water, and by
fire. This method of “trial” was introduced from the notion that God would defend the right, even by
miracle if needful.
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#76783
07/24/2002 4:07 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Orkneys Either the Teutonic Orkn-cys (the water or islands of the whirlpool), in allusion to the two
famous whirlpools near the Isle of Swinna; or else the Norwegian Orkeyjar (northern islands), the
Hebrides being the Sudreyjar, or southern islands.
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#76784
07/25/2002 4:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Orrery An astronomical toy to show the relative movements of the planets, etc., invented by George
Graham, who sent his model to Rowley, an instrument maker, to make one for Prince Eugéne. Rowley
made a copy of it for Charles Boyle, third Earl of Orrery, and Sir Richard Steele named it an orrery out of
compliment to the earl. One of the best is Fulton's, in Kelvin Grove Museum, West End Park, Glasgow.
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#76785
07/25/2002 4:52 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Orts Crumbs; refuse. (Low German, ort- i.e. what is left after eating.)
I shall not eat your orts- i.e. your leavings.
On Boston radio there used to be ads for "Ort's Grille" I was not tempted
to patronize it.
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#76786
07/25/2002 4:58 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Osprey or Ospray (a corruption of Latin Ossifragus the bone-breaker). The fish-eagle, or fishing hawk
(Pandion haeliaetis).
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#76787
07/25/2002 5:02 PM
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A famous literary hoax.
Ossian The son of Fingal, a Scottish warrior-bard who lived in the third century. The poems called
Ossian's Pooms were first published by James M'Pherson in 1760, and professed to be translations from
Erse manuscripts collected in the Highlands. This is not true. M'Pherson no doubt based the poems on
traditions, but not one of them is a translation of an Erse manuscript; and so far as they are Ossianic at all,
they are Irish, and not Scotch
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#76788
07/25/2002 5:07 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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A contradiction
Ostler jocosely said to be derived from oat-stealer, but actually from the French hostelier, an innkeeper.
hos[tler 7h9s4l!r, 9s$38
n.
5contr. of HOSTELER6
1 a person who takes care of horses at an inn, stable, etc.; groom
>2 a person who services a truck or a railroad engine at the end of a run
3 [Obs.] an innkeeper
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#76789
07/25/2002 5:09 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Ostracis'm Oyster-shelling, black-balling, or expelling. Clisthenes gave the people of Attica the power of
removing from the state, without making a definite charge, any leader of the people likely to subvert the
government. Each citizen wrote his vote on an earthen. ware table (ostracon), whence the term.
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#76790
07/25/2002 5:12 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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I wonder how Brewer a hundred years ago would repeat this stupid hoax:
Ostrich When hunted the ostrich is said to run a certain distance and then thrust its head into a bush,
thinking, because it cannot see, that it cannot be seen by the hunters. (See Crocodile. )
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#76791
07/25/2002 5:16 PM
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Brewer's take on retirement:
O'tium cum Dig [dignitate ]. Retirement after a person has given up business and has saved enough to
live upon in comfort. The words are Latin, and mean “retirement with honour.” They are more frequently
used in jest, familiarity, and ridicule.
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#76792
07/25/2002 5:18 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Oui (French for “yes”). A contraction of Hoc illud. Thus, hoc-ill', ho'-il, o'il, oïl, oï, oui.
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#76793
07/25/2002 5:21 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Outis (Greek, nobody). A name assumed by Odysseus in the cave of Polyphemos. When the monster
roared with the pain from the loss of his eye, his brother giants demanded from a distance who was
hurting him: “Nobody,” thundered out Polyphemos, and his companions went their way. Odysseus in
Latin is Ulysses.
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#76794
07/25/2002 5:24 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Overture A piece of music for the opening of a concert. To “make an overture to a person” is to be the
first to make an advance either towards a reconciliation or an acquaintance. (French, ouverture, opening.)
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#76795
07/25/2002 5:29 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Owen Meredith Robert Bulwer Lytton."It was a dark and srormy night......."
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#76796
07/25/2002 5:39 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Owen Meredith Robert Bulwer Lytton."It was a dark and srormy night......."
Why? Why Bulwer Lytton? Why does this Meredith get this credit? What am I missing here, Dr. Bill?
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#76797
07/25/2002 6:02 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: AnnaStrophic dearly loves Bulwer-Lytton. She goes into raptures every time she hears "it was a dark and stormy night...." Don't you, AS? Well, actually, she loathes him. I guess the Owen Meredith might have been a pen-name. But the guy inherited big, and made a name change I am hazy about now. http://www.bartleby.com/100/559.htmlhttp://www.bulwer-lytton.com/
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#76798
07/26/2002 10:04 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
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>>....soldiers and sailors may simply declare their wish by word of mouth.
British soldiers who go on a tour of Northern Ireland must make out a written will.
I would have expected a written will to be very strongly recommended, if not obligatory, for all servicemen. Same applies to any high-risk job.
The nunccupative option is mostly of historical value I expect, as employers (including the armed forces) have legal obligations for the welfare of their employees these days.
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#76799
07/26/2002 10:13 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
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A contraction of Hoc illud. Thus, hoc-ill', ho'-il, o'il, oïl, oï, oui
So Hoc illud is simply an overlong way of saying "yes"?
Could one of our resident Latin scholars translate, please?
And what's "yes" a shortening of, then?
It seems very strange that simple affirmation should ever require more than one word, especially when one of them has more than one syllable.
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#76800
07/26/2002 10:17 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
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A foolish child or dolt is so called from the notion that all idiots are changelings, left by the fairies in the place of the stolen onesYeah, it would be nice if they just left one or two real children, wouldn't it? 
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