O’Clock Quiz

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett, and we’re joined by our quiz guide, John Chaneski.

Hi, John.

Hi, Grant.

Hi, Martha.

Hello.

Any word fan worth their salt, probably when they were growing up, one of the first things they began to wonder about was why we say o’clock, as in 10 o’clock, right?

And they probably looked that up, and you find out that o’clock is short for of the clock, because obviously, who has the time to say of the anymore?

This is a go, go, go world.

So why should we stop with of the clock?

What would other common phrases sound like if we shortened of the to o, all of the time, or all o time?

For example, what would the common phrase be for a priest or a reverend, a phrase that references their garb?

Man o cloth.

Man o cloth, yes, very good.

Now, I’ll clue you into some more o contractions.

Guys, you are free to use these anywhere you go.

Here we go.

It’s been a popular brand of underwear for many years, but we still call it by four words instead of two with a contraction.

Fruit O’Loom.

Very nice. Fruit O’Loom.

Now, it was the linchpin of the first Indiana Jones movie, a box that supposedly at one time contained God’s contract with his people.

Ark O’Covenant.

Ark O’Covenant, yes.

Sounds like malt O’ meal.

Ark O’ Covenant, yeah.

It’s when you default to the belief that someone’s intentions are honest, even when you can’t be sure.

Benefit o’ doubt?

Benefit o’ doubt is right, yes.

It describes a gathering of very intelligent individuals, though it’s often used facetiously.

Not meeting o’ minds.

It is meeting o’ minds, yeah.

There’s a real meeting o’ minds there, yeah.

Now, we’re right in the middle of the quiz right now, and this is supposed to be when things quiet down a little, like in a hurricane. What’s that called?

I-O-Storm.

I-O-Storm is right.

This was a series of conflicts over the throne of England between the houses of Plantagenet and Lancaster.

War O’Roses.

War O’Roses, right.

Now, he’s the guy wearing the lambshade on his head or the woman telling the outrageous anecdote.

Life O’Party.

Life O’Party.

Now, his real name is John Clayton II, the Earl of Greystoke, and he’s the title character of what novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs?

Tarzano Apes.

Tarzano Apes, that’s right.

Now, there’s a common belief that a hangover can be cured by a little more drink.

I don’t know if that works, but I do know what it’s colloquially referred to as.

Harrow the dog.

Harrow dog. Harrow dog it is.

Now, finally, the quiz is over and we’ve come to the last question.

Just like when your train pulls into the last station and the conductor tells everyone to get out.

End o’ line.

Stand clear of the closing doors.

End o’ line.

Stand clear of the closing doors, please.

Yes, it is the end o’ line for me.

So this has been wonderful.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks, John.

We’ll talk to you next week.

Well, we’d love to talk with you about any aspect of language whatsoever, wordplay, word origins, slang, a dispute you have at work about workplace jargon.

Give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send us an email.

That address is words@waywordradio.org.