Phrases with “O” 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 who’s that masked man? It’s John Chaneski, our quiz guy.

Hello, John.

Zoom, it’s me. I’m here. Hello. It’s good to be here.

I want to say to you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, let’s talk about phrases with two or more words that contain only the vowel oh.

-oh.

-oh.

-oh. Here we go.

For example, if I said, this is another way of saying podiatrist, you might say, foot doctor?

Foot doctor, yes.

Oh, I see.

So not the sound O, but the letter O.

No, right, the letter O.

Okay, very good.

Only the letter O.

Now let’s warm up with some phrases featuring just three O’s, okay?

Okay.

If a comedian works blue, it means that he tells jokes that are described like this.

So to work blue means bad language or coarse language.

Offensive.

Offensive words?

Obscene.

Obscene words.

A two-word phrase, remember, that means a joke that is offensive.

Off color.

Yes, off color.

Oh, okay.

Very good.

So apparently the color in off color is blue.

So there you go.

Off color works blue.

All right.

Okay.

This is a kind of music of the 1950s characterized by close harmonies.

The name is derived from the nonsense syllables sung by backup vocalists.

Doo-wop.

Doo-wop, right.

This is the term for a series of acts at a nightclub.

It describes where the acts take place, unless they’re aerialists.

A series of acts in a nightclub.

Right.

So something floor.

Yeah.

Floor show?

Oh, there we go.

Floor show.

There you go.

Three O’s right there.

Floor show.

Now, here are some four or more O phrases.

It’s another way of saying physical beauty.

Physical beauty.

Yeah.

Four O’s?

Good looking.

Oh, good.

Yeah, well, you put an I in there where it didn’t have to be in there.

Oh, good looker.

No, good looks.

Good looks, yes.

Very good.

Okay, there we go.

Very, very good looks.

So only O’s.

Only O’s.

No other vowels.

Okay.

C.

To me, these two words mean nothing else except macaroni and cheese.

These two words mean nothing else except macaroni and cheese.

Comfort food?

Yes, comfort food.

I was thinking of something in noodles.

Oh.

That doesn’t work.

When I think comfort food, it’s just macaroni and cheese.

This is a fleet of military vehicles controlled by a single agency and available for use as needed.

A fleet of military vehicles?

Yes.

Something troops?

No.

Troop mover?

No.

No, if you’re on the base and you need a Jeep.

Something cool.

Motor pool.

Yes, very good.

Motor pool.

Here we go.

Here’s the next one.

Excuse me, sir, but can I interest you in a vacuum cleaner?

How about a Bible?

Can I sell you a set of encyclopedias?

Door to door.

Door to door, right.

These people are typically given cookies and apple juice in exchange for their vital bodily fluids.

Blood donors.

Blood donors.

Blood donors, yes.

Here’s the last one.

A hungan might use this kind of figurine to affect a curse.

It’s bad juju.

Voodoo doll.

Yes, a voodoo doll.

Nicely done.

Thanks, John.

We’ll talk to you next week when you’re going to have another exciting quiz for us, right?

I’ll talk to you then, guys.

All right.

Cheers now.

Thank you, John.

And if you’d like to talk about any aspect of language whatsoever, we would like to talk with you.

So call us 877-929-9673 or send your questions and comments and email to words@waywordradio.org.