A - Z Database

A - Z Database

Nutter

British colloquialism for mad person dates from the late 1950s derives from nuts meaning crazy.


OMG

Commonly used acronym these days for Oh my God/goodness/gosh in text messaging and email. OMG was added to the OED in March 2011, along with LOL and F...

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OTT

see Over the top


O death where is thy sting?

“O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?” This was coined by St Paul in the New Testament I Corinthians 15:54, where the word ‘sting...

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Occam’s/Ockham’s razor

Occam’s or Ockham’s razor is sometimes referred to as the law of parsimony or economy, which states that when confronted with two competing hypotheses...

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October

see Months of the year


Odd/odds and evens etc.

Odd, of course, is a well-known adjective for strange or unusual, but odd, as in an odd number, means an uneven number i.e. one that is not divisible...

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Oddball

An oddball is a strange or eccentric person. Oddball can also be used as an adjective to describe something that is unconventional or non-standard, su...

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Odd bin

see Odd/odds and evens etc.


Odd bod

This means more or less the same as oddball but is an abbreviation of 'odd body' where body means a person. This expression is of British origin and d...

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Odd job

see Odd/odds and evens etc.


Odd lot

see Odd/odds and evens etc.


Odd number

see Odd/odds and evens


Odds and ends

Odds and ends has a similar meaning to bits and bobs, which means odd remnants, miscellaneous items, bits and pieces. In bits and bobs, a ‘bob’ meanin...

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Odds and sods

Odds and sods is a vulgar British version of odds and ends and dates, according to Eric Partridge, from c. 1945. One presumes that ‘sods’ was substitu...

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