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#76764 07/23/02 04:16 PM
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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.)



#76765 07/23/02 04:31 PM
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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.



#76766 07/23/02 04:43 PM
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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.


#76767 07/24/02 02:45 PM
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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.



#76768 07/24/02 02:49 PM
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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.


#76769 07/24/02 02:59 PM
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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.



#76770 07/24/02 03:02 PM
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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.


#76771 07/24/02 03:12 PM
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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.)


#76772 07/24/02 03:18 PM
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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.



#76773 07/24/02 03:23 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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