Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: O' |
O'1. A prefix to Irish family names, which signifies grandson or descendant of, and is a character of dignity; as, O'Neil, O'Carrol. Preposition1. A shortened form of of or on. |
Date "O'" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | O |
Literature | O' An Irish patronymic. (Gachc, ogha; Irish, oa, a descendant.) O' in Scotch, means "of," as "Tam-o'-Shanter." Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Crosswords: O' |
| English words defined with "O'": The feck, The most feck, To funk out. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "O'": Bess o' Bedlam, Borrowed days of March ♦ Cakes, Campbells are Coming, Coals, Cramp-ring ♦ Dan Tucker, DUB O' TH' HICK, Dying Sayings ♦ Fire-drake, Forfar, Friar's Lanthorn, FRYING ♦ Goose Dubbs, Grassmarket ♦ Jack o' the Clock, John Tamson's Man ♦ Knights of the Road ♦ Lad o' Wax, Losing a Ship for a Haporth o' Tar ♦ man ♦ O'Groat ♦ PARTIAL, Ping O' Death, Pirie's Chair ♦ Saut Lairds o' Dunscore, Scarabee, Scots wha hae, Sing a Song o' Sixpence, story ♦ Yellow-bellies. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "O'": jackanapes. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Fill a man full o' lead, stick him in the ground an' then read words on him. Why, when you've killed a man, why try to read the Lord in as a partner on the job (Red River; writing credit: Borden Chase) To tell the truth, Boss, I don't know much o' anything (The Green Mile; writing credit: Frank Darabont) Sky full o' smoke (Ed Wood; writing credit: Scott Alexander) I was in here yesterday. Listen, I think I left a book o' matches over in your office over there (Repo Man; writing credit: Alex Cox) Then why don't you get your fwiggin' feet off o' the stage (Blazing Saddles; writing credit: Andrew Bergman; Mel Brooks) | |
Lyrics | O' beautiful, for spacious skies (The End of the Innocence; performing artist: Don Henley) Who you think brought you the o' G's (Forgot About Dre; performing artist: Dr. dre) Top o' the morning, guess who's broken (Never all there; performing artist: General Public) Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke (A Boy Named Sue; performing artist: Johnny Cash) Why he's the kind o' cat that'll make a dead man cry (THAT'S KILLER JOE; performing artist: Manhattan Transfer) | |
Movie/TV Titles | O' Cangaçeiro (1970) Kathy O' (1958) A Peck o' Trouble (1953) Top o' the Morning (1949) Pot o' Gold (1941) | |
Song Titles | Sweet Child O' Mine (performing artist: Guns N' Roses) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Will o' the wisp photo'd by B. Hufnagel. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Dan o' Deer. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | N. Tom o' logical studies. The great tumble bug of Missouri, bent-on rollin his ball. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Astronomer (to prospective customer): Laze an Gemlen, nows de time to see de planet o' Wenus luminated in all her glory ... Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | You get out o' here before I fill you full o' shot. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Fer th' love-a-Mike take charge o' this Packard, woncha Em'ly? : there's th' bunch!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | I'm goin' to tell you a funny thing Tom: I've got nine o' them, an' I'm a bachelor ... / J. Conacher. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Top o' the mornin' to you!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | "Teach me one o' them 'race prejuices', Uncle Louie. Every kid on th' street's got one but me". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The lights o' London every evening and Saturday matinee. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Blue bowl o' beads" by Jessica Poli Commentary: "Beads." | "Top o' Guitar" by Christie Ortiz Commentary: "My geetar sitting by my desk...one day i'll continue lessons...i swear." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
William Shakespeare | Kiss me, Kate, we will be married o' Sunday. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | STORY, n. A narrative, commonly untrue. The truth of the stories here following has, however, not been successfully impeached. One evening Mr. Rudolph Block, of New York, found himself seated at dinner alongside Mr. Percival Pollard, the distinguished critic. "Mr. Pollard," said he, "my book, The Biography of a Dead Cow, is published anonymously, but you can hardly be ignorant of its authorship. Yet in reviewing it you speak of it as the work of the Idiot of the Century. Do you think that fair criticism?" "I am very sorry, sir," replied the critic, amiably, "but it did not occur to me that you really might not wish the public to know who wrote it." Mr. W.C. Morrow, who used to live in San Jose, California, was addicted to writing ghost stories which made the reader feel as if a stream of lizards, fresh from the ice, were streaking it up his back and hiding in his hair. San Jose was at that time believed to be haunted by the visible spirit of a noted bandit named Vasquez, who had been hanged there. The town was not very well lighted, and it is putting it mildly to say that San Jose was reluctant to be out o' nights. One particularly dark night two gentlemen were abroad in the loneliest spot within the city limits, talking loudly to keep up their courage, when they came upon Mr. J.J. Owen, a well-known journalist. "Why, Owen," said one, "what brings you here on such a night as this? You told me that this is one of Vasquez' favorite haunts! And you are a believer. Aren't you afraid to be out?" "My dear fellow," the journalist replied with a drear autumnal cadence in his speech, like the moan of a leaf-laden wind, "I am afraid to be in. I have one of Will Morrow's stories in my pocket and I don't dare to go where there is light enough to read it." Rear-Admiral Schley and Representative Charles F. Joy were standing near the Peace Monument, in Washington, discussing the question, Is success a failure? Mr. Joy suddenly broke off in the middle of an eloquent sentence, exclaiming: "Hello! I've heard that band before. Santlemann's, I think." "I don't hear any band," said Schley. "Come to think, I don't either," said Joy; "but I see General Miles coming down the avenue, and that pageant always affects me in the same way as a brass band. One has to scrutinize one's impressions pretty closely, or one will mistake their origin." While the Admiral was digesting this hasty meal of philosophy General Miles passed in review, a spectacle of impressive dignity. When the tail of the seeming procession had passed and the two observers had recovered from the transient blindness caused by its effulgence -- "He seems to be enjoying himself," said the Admiral. "There is nothing," assented Joy, thoughtfully, "that he enjoys one-half so well." The illustrious statesman, Champ Clark, once lived about a mile from the village of Jebigue, in Missouri. One day he rode into town on a favorite mule, and, hitching the beast on the sunny side of a street, in front of a saloon, he went inside in his character of teetotaler, to apprise the barkeeper that wine is a mocker. It was a dreadfully hot day. Pretty soon a neighbor came in and seeing Clark, said: "Champ, it is not right to leave that mule out there in the sun. He'll roast, sure! -- he was smoking as I passed him." "O, he's all right," said Clark, lightly; "he's an inveterate smoker." The neighbor took a lemonade, but shook his head and repeated that it was not right. He was a conspirator. There had been a fire the night before: a stable just around the corner had burned and a number of horses had put on their immortality, among them a young colt, which was roasted to a rich nut-brown. Some of the boys had turned Mr. Clark's mule loose and substituted the mortal part of the colt. Presently another man entered the saloon. "For mercy's sake!" he said, taking it with sugar, "do remove that mule, barkeeper: it smells." "Yes," interposed Clark, "that animal has the best nose in Missouri. But if he doesn't mind, you shouldn't." In the course of human events Mr. Clark went out, and there, apparently, lay the incinerated and shrunken remains of his charger. The boys idd not have any fun out of Mr. Clarke, who looked at the body and, with the non-committal expression to which he owes so much of his political preferment, went away. But walking home late that night he saw his mule standing silent and solemn by the wayside in the misty moonlight. Mentioning the name of Helen Blazes with uncommon emphasis, Mr. Clark took the back track as hard as ever he could hook it, and passed the night in town. General H.H. Wotherspoon, president of the Army War College, has a pet rib-nosed baboon, an animal of uncommon intelligence but imperfectly beautiful. Returning to his apartment one evening, the General was surprised and pained to find Adam (for so the creature is named, the general being a Darwinian) sitting up for him and wearing his master's best uniform coat, epaulettes and all. "You confounded remote ancestor!" thundered the great strategist, "what do you mean by being out of bed after naps? -- and with my coat on!" Adam rose and with a reproachful look got down on all fours in the manner of his kind and, scuffling across the room to a table, returned with a visiting-card: General Barry had called and, judging by an empty champagne bottle and several cigar-stumps, had been hospitably entertained while waiting. The general apologized to his faithful progenitor and retired. The next day he met General Barry, who said: "Spoon, old man, when leaving you last evening I forgot to ask you about those excellent cigars. Where did you get them?" General Wotherspoon did not deign to reply, but walked away. "Pardon me, please," said Barry, moving after him; "I was joking of course. Why, I knew it was not you before I had been in the room fifteen minutes." |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dennis Miller | Strawberry Zinfandel goes with Filet o' Fish or Chicken McNuggets while Boone's Blackberry Ridge should be reserved for McRibb or a Quarter Pounder. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "O'" is generally used as a preposition "of" -- approximately 99.58% of the time. "O'" is used about 473 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Preposition "of" | 99.58% | 472 | 12,553 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.42% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 473 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "O'": Cat o' nine tails ♦ Land o' cakes ♦ Land O' Lakes ♦ ping O' Death ♦ Tom o' Bedlam. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "O'": O'-levels, O'-ring. | |
Ending with "O'": full-o'. | |
Containing "O'": man-o'-war, tug-o'-war, will-o'-the-wisps. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "O'"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | vyfuur (five o' clock), twee-uur (two o' clock), drie-uur (three o' clock), agtuur (eight o' clock). (various references) | |
Albanian | veri i scocisë (john-o'-groat's), prostitutë (bawd, call girl, drab, harlot, hooker, light-o'-love, Moll, Molly, night hawk, night walker, prostitute, streetwalker, tramp, trollop, trull), kamzhik me shumë fije (cat-o'-nine-tails), iluzion (delusion, hallucination, illusion, phantom, trick, vapor, vapour, will-o'-the-wisp), grua mendjelehtë (hare-brained woman, jilt, light-o'-love, minx), flakë bredhëse (will-o'-the-wisp), beretë skoceze (Tammy, tam-o'-shanter). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | шотландска барета (tam-o'-shanter), неуловимо нещо (will-o'-the-wisp), неуловим човек (will-o'-the-wisp), любовница (doxy, inamorata, ladylove, light-o'-love, lover, mistress, paramour, soul mate), лека жена (hussy, light-o'-love, pushover), блуждаещ огън (fen fire, ignis fatuus, wildfire, will-o'-the-wisp), бич от девет връзки (cat-o'-nine-tails), палече (hop-o'-my-thumb), измамлива цел (ignis fatuus, will-o'-the-wisp), измамлива надежда (ignis fatuus, will-o'-the-wisp), дребосъче (atomy, hop-o'-my-thumb, minikin, mite, tomtit). (various references) | |
Chinese | O '. (various references) | |
Czech | stará taneèní melodie (light-o'-love), devítiocasá koèka (cat-o'-nine-tails), bludièka (ignis fatuus, jack-o'-lantern). (various references) | |
Finnish | virvatuli (ignis fatuus, will-o'-the wisp), peukaloinen (Hop-o'-my-Thumb, wren). (various references) | |
French | frégate marine (man-o'-war bird). (various references) | |
German | uhr (clock, dial, hour, indicator, meter, o'clock, ticker, time, timepiece, watch). (various references) | |
Hungarian | lidércfény (fen fire, friar's lantern, ignis fatuus, jack-o'-lantern, wildfire, will-o'-the-wisp). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 鬼火 (jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp), 燐火 (ignis fatuus, phosphorous light, will-o'-the-wisp), 狐火 (St. Elmo's fire, will-o'-the-wisp). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おにび (jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp), きつねび (St. Elmo's fire, will-o'-the-wisp), りんか (automobile accident, ignis fatuus, neighbouring house, phosphorous light, traffic accident, will-o'-the-wisp). (various references) | |
Korean | O '. (various references) | |
Manx | kipp nuy arbyllagh (cat-o'-nine-tails), chenney cheabane (ignis fatuus, Will-o'-the-Wisp). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | o'ay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | gnomo (dwarf, elf, gnome, goblin, hop-o'-my-thumb, puck), coisa obscura (will-o'-the-wisp), chicote (cat-o'-nine-tails, horsewhip, lash, quirt, scourge, whip), ano (hop-o'-my-thumb). (various references) | |
Romanian | prichindel (a bit of a boy, dandiprat, dwarf, hop-o'-my-thumb, midget, shrimp, whipster), poghircã (hop-o'-my-thumb), pitic (dwarf, dwarfish, gnome, hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, midget, minikin, peewee, shrimp), nãpârstoc (hop-o'-my-thumb), luminiţã rãtãcitoare (jack-o'-lantern), himerã (a bird in the bush, bubble, chimera, negation, nonentity, vapor, vapour, will-o'-the-wisp), gâgâlice (crumb, dandiprat, dumpy, hop-o'-my-thumb, trifle, whipper-snapper), flãcãraie rãtãcitoare în mlaştinã (will-o'-the-wisp), flãcãraie (blaze, flare, will-o'-the-wisp). (various references) | |
Russian | шотландский берет (tam, tam-o'-shanter), карлик (dwarf, dwarves, elf, hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, midget, pigmi, pygmy). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | okrugla vunena kapa (tam-o'-shanter), varljiva svetlost (will-o'-the-wisp), varljiva nada (jack-o'-lantern), varka (delusion, illusion, pretence, pretense, sham, will-o'-the-wisp), severna škotska (john-o'-groat's), puckanje prstom o prst (hop-o'-my-thumb), prostitutka (call girl, light-o'-love, moll, prostitute), izdubljena bundeva u koju se stavi sveća (jack-o'-lantern), ime junaka jedne bernsove pesme (tam-o'-shanter), bećarska pesma (light-o'-love). (various references) | |
Spanish | azote (cat-o'-nine-tails, lash, scourge, stripe, whip). (various references) | |
Swedish | spelevink (scapegrace, will-o'-the-wisp), skotsk basker med tofs (Tammy, tam-o'-shanter), niosvansad katt (cat-o'-nine-tails), lyktgubbe (jack-o'-lantern), lättsinnig kvinna (fast woman, light-o'-love), irrbloss (fen fire, jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp), dagg (cat-o'-nine-tails, dew, dewy), bländverk (illusion, will-o'-the-wisp). (various references) | |
Turkish | olmayacak hayal (will-o'-the-wisp), serap (fata morgana, mirage, will-o'-the-wisp), püsküllü bere (tam-o'-shanter), kabaktan yapılmış fener (jack-o'-lantern), dokuz kamçılı kırbaç (cat-o'-nine-tails), cüce (dwarf, elf, gnome, ground-, homunculus, hop-o'-my-thumb, lilliputian, manikin, midget, nano-, pigmy, pygmean, pygmy, runt, scrub, scrubby, shrimp, tom thumb), boş umut (will-o'-the-wisp), bere (balmoral, barret, beanie, beret, bruise, contusion, flesh wound, hurt, lesion, skullcap, Tammy, tam-o'-shanter, wound), bataklık yalazı (jack-o'-lantern), bataklık yakamozu (will-o'-the-wisp), bataklık ışığı (ignis fatuus, jack-o'-lantern). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | кішка-дев'ятихвостка (cat-o'-nine-tails). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | người đàn bà đĩ thoã (demi-rep, light-o'-love), mũi (jack-o'-lantern, snout), mũ bêrê Ê-cốt (tam-o'-shanter), chú lùn (hop-o'-my-thumb). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Proper Noun Anagrams | |
| Words containing the letters "'-o" | |
+1 letter: Ho', Mo', O'c, 'ok, O'n, Op'. | |
+2 letters: D'oc, 'doh, Do'l, D'or, Fox', God', Joy', Mo'g, Nor', Nov', Now', 'ok', O'my, On'y, Oul', Roy', S'no, Son', Tom', To'o. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Translations: Modern 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
