Brits are figuring out what the “o” in “oclock” stands for | Weird | News

The English language is full of bizarre and fascinating words that have become so ingrained in our vocabulary that we often overlook their origins.

Take, for example, the ubiquitous word “OK” or “okay,” which we often use to signal agreement, similar to a thumbs up.

The term “OK” has a fascinating history that goes back almost two centuries: It was originally an abbreviation of “oll korrect”, a playful variation of “all correct”.

This was part of a 19th-century fashion for quirky abbreviations, including OW (oll wright), KY (know yuse, or no use), and NS (’nuff said).

It is believed that “OK” originated from an 1830s fad for deliberate misspellings, with “all correct” being jokingly written as “oll korrect.” This trend was just one aspect of a wider movement of deliberate misspellings and abbreviations at the time.

And then there’s the mystery of what the “o” in “O’clock” actually stands for. One social media user recently asked, “What does the “O” in “O’clock” mean?”, sparking a flood of responses.

Someone incorrectly claimed: “It just means zero. So nine o’clock is exactly 9. Then 9:01 9:02 9:3… it just means zero.”

Nevertheless, most of the answers correctly recognized that it is an abbreviation of “of the clock”.

It comes from Middle English, a language spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066 until the late 15th century. Later it was used colloquially as “o” or “o'” as an abbreviation for “on” or “of”. This is still common today in some words, such as “o’clock”, “jack-o’-lantern” and “will-o’-the-wisp”.

In surnames, especially those with Celtic roots, the common prefix “O” comes from the Old Irish “o,” meaning “descendant.”

One person continued, “The ‘O’ in ‘O’clock’ stands for ‘of the.’ The phrase ‘O’clock’ is a shortening of ‘of the clock,’ which was historically used to indicate time according to the clock. For example, saying ‘it is 3 o’clock’ originally meant ‘it is 3 o’clock.’ Over time, ‘of the’ was shortened to simply ‘O’,’ which led to the expression we commonly use today. Over time, ‘of the’ was shortened to simply ‘O’,’ which led to the expression we commonly use today.”

Another user was excited by this new knowledge and replied, “See, that’s why I like threads. It’s the questions and answers I never thought of.”