O

O'America ex. Generally means there could be nothing bigger than, more than, etc. 'big time', 'majorly', 'to the maximum capacity'. Used as, "Did you see Christine today? She looks like a hottie O'America!!!", "I need to go to the bathroom O'America!", "That weed got me high, O'America!!!" circa. current USA

obs n. Obstruction in pat-ball, where a dim child would stumble into the field of play thus obtructing one from a fair play at the ball. Similar to "let" in tennis, but without the rackets. c.f. pat-ball UK

off ground touch n. a way of avoiding becoming "it" by being off ground when being touched or tagged. To avoid the boredom when everyone stood on the school wall (at St.Joseph's RC Primary School, Upminster), the '15count' rule was introduced where you could stay off ground for a count of 15 before you had to stand down again. UK (SE)

off-yer-face adj. Phrase used for those tripping on magic mushrooms. Those who were "off-their-face" could be easily spotted by others who partook in similar drug taking through some strange unspoken awareness. Alternately they could be spotted by anyone when they fall backwards off their chair in Biology Class and get taken to hospital to have their stomach pumped e.g. Gareth at Sandbach Skool, thereafter known to friends as "Mushy". c.f. magics UK (SE)

oggy n. somethng nasty but ficticious that boys caught off girls by kissing or touching them...similar to "the lurgie" cf. lurgy UK (NW)

oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh... ch. This is more of a chant than a word. When there was a playground fight, the audience would gather round in a circle chanting 'oh-oh-oh-oh-oh...' until there was a breakthrough in the fight or it was broken up. I have no idea why we did it I know others have told me that 'fight-fight-fight' is more traditional., It may be a Scottish thing. (ed: entered verbatim) UK (Scot)

Oh Sir Jasper! song. Basically you sing repeatedly the sentence 'Oh sir Jasper do not touch me' and at each iteration leave off one of the words. Supposed to be vaguely homourous and sexy. Often heard at Rugby club do's:

Oh Sir Jasper do not touch me!
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch me!.
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch me!.

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh Sir Jasper do not touch!!
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch!!
Oh Sir Jasper do not touch!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh Sir Jasper do not!!!

Oh Sir Jasper do not!!!

Oh Sir Jasper do not!!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh Sir Jasper do!!!!
Oh Sir Jasper do!!!!
Oh Sir Jasper do!!!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh Sir Jasper!!!!!
Oh Sir Jasper!!!!!
Oh Sir Jasper!!!!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh Sir!!!!!!
Oh Sir!!!!!!
Oh Sir!!!!!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

Oh!!!!!!!
Oh!!!!!!!
Oh!!!!!!!

And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

.
.
.
And she lay beneath the lily-white sheets with nothing on at all.

circa. 1960's+ UK (Wal)

oik n. member of the lower classes of the UK - especially anyone not English - e.g. one who tends to pronounce an (i) sound as (oi), cf. lurgy UK

old school adj. Outdated, obselete. Used as "The Atari 2600 is really old school." circa. 1950's UK

ollie, ollie ollie n. As in the near legendary Playground song heard in Bedfordshire during the late 70's to mid 80's.

'Singin Ollie, Ollie, Ollie with the boobs on the trolley,
and the balls in the biscuit tin.
Your'e sitting on the grass with your fingers up your arse,
singin' Ollie, Ollie, Ollie
sing it again, sing it again,
singing Ollie, Ollie, Ollie
sing it again!!,

There was never a specific occasion for using this dittie but seemed to have been sung a lot just before final bell, so therefore could have been used as an expression of joy. circa 1970's - 80's UK (M)

ollie, ollie oxenfree... n. Used in the 1930s or '40s I believe; something children called out to one another, while playing tag? The contributor has always wanted to know what this means, and probably misspelled it. Any suggestions as to spelling and origins??

In response to the above we've received the following:

The expression was/is used during the game "hide-and-go-seek" (a.k.a. "hide-and-seek".) When the game has come to an impasse and the person assigned to - or stuck with- be "it"?, finding the other players can no longer successfully ferret out successive players still in hiding, "ollie, ollie oxenfree" can be shouted (presumably by the person stuck with searching out all other players (the object of the game)), and those still in hiding can come out of hiding with impunity. In the normal course of the game, players hide while the person assigned to find them counts up to about 100 from a point called "base". Once he/she is done counting, he can open his/her eyes and begin to seek all other players who are to go into hiding. The person counting has to tag anyone making a run for home "base". If a person makes it to home base without being tagged, he is "free". In general, the person doing the seeking, I believe, is said to be "it". Finally, I think the penalty for the person who is "it" calling "ollie, ollie oxenfree" is resigned to being "it" again for the next go-round, and so the game continues. The game is very closely related to "kick the can" where a can (e.g. soup or soda) is used as base, and if and when the first person makes a succesful run on base and kicks the can, all previously tagged people are free and all still in hiding become free as well. Ollie, ollie oxenfree, I'm sure, applies here as well. (No, I don't believe you'll find any of this in "Hoyle".)

Then there's this from MidWest USA:

This was used in the game of Hide and Seek as a call to have the still hidden players return to base. The full phrase is "ollie, ollie oxen free. All come home." There are two versions of the game and a different application to each version. First version is when the player who is 'it' has given up because the ones hiding have been impossible to find - or there's still a few people that can't *be* found, the cry is given for them to come out without penalty. The second, combines Hide and Seek with Tag. Once found, the hider is given an opportunity to run to base without being tagged and made It. If caught, then the cry is given, to let the hiders come out and find new spots (since the hiders usually knew where at least some of the others were.) At least, this is how it was used in the section of Midwestern America that I grew up in. My aunts and their friends taught me how to play, so I imagine the use of the phrase this way dates to at least the 1950's as they had to have learnt it from older kids etc.

And from Scotland:

This was used at Kinloch Primary, Carnoustie, Scotland in the 1980s in a game that was the bastard love-child of tig and hide and seek. When the seeker found you and tigged you, you joined their side. But if you could get past the seeker, through stealth or speed, you could reach 'home base' and call out these words, at which point everyone else not caught came out and the game started again. Basically it meant you could play it several times in one break. Don't know the origin.

Which leads us naturally to this contributors suggestion that it has a German origin:

I don't know how I know this but I believe that what was actually being said was , "Alle, alle, alle sind frei." Germen, literally. " All, all, all are free." (ed: sounds correct to me - anyone else got some input?)

And this one that suggests an English origin:

With regard to the expression "ollie, ollie, oxenfree", I am led to believe that it is a bastardization of the english words "All ye, All ye, All come free", meaning there was no penalty for making yourself (or your whereabouts) known. This was certainly the functional use of the expression when I was a child in the forties, as all players of a game such as hide & seek could call a temporary pause in the game. Then there was this slight variation from New England:

In New England US we used to shout it out when playing hide and seek to call everyone in. Only it was: Ollie Olllie Oxen Free-O

And...:

In the US, that phrase has been used for years to call everyone back to gaol (base, home, safe-zone, etc.) when the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek has caught someone and a new game is about to start. Last year, we researched the correct spelling of the phrase for use in an ad campaign, and according to the reference material we found, you do have the entry spelled correctly. I hope that helps you narrow your search for the UK use of the phrase.

Ed: so we have the correct spelling - we think - and maybe the correct phrase. All we need now is discover the origins and we're home free! circa. pre 1940's UK, USA

One Bounce Beats game. Group Ball game, where the last person who lets the ball touch the floor twice recieves a short, brutal round of no holding back beating from opponents. Sometimes the game consumes the entire population of a playground. The voluntary/involuntary participants cross the whole spectrum of all years. The usual survivors are skilful at kick ups. After a prolonged spell without any violence, the most common tactic used is to shoot the ball against a targeted opponent rendering him powerless to control the ball. circa. 1980's UK

one in the departure lounge n. requiring immediate defection c.f. turtles head UK

om, om-ertz n. Contraction of a contraction of 'homosexual'. Contributor explains it as follows: "By the time I was at school (started primary in 86) 'hom' was out of use and had been bastardised to 'om'(I'm fairly sure that 'hom' must be its origin, but its a cross with 'orrr') and was used when another person had done something really bad/said a rude word or whatever and was an expression of shock - "ooooooommmmmm, I'm telling!". The 'I'm telling' was rarely absent from the phrase.

Then a new generation of the word was born in roughly 1990/1. My stepsister and brother were playing with the kids of a family friend, one of whom was called Thomas. Thomas did something wrong and my stepsister came out with 'Ohmas Thomas, I'm telling'. they started using 'omas' at school and now its common in schools across Bolton, usually pronounced 'om-erz',". c.f. hom circa. 1990's UK (Mid)

onion adj. Insult used towards a girl. circa. 2000's USA

oober adj. Direct ligting from the German Uber. Used to mean very, really or big, i.e. "Ooober dork." meaning 'super dork', or "Oober freaky." meaning 'super freaky'. circa. 1960's onwards USA

Oobtay n. cigarette f. probably from "tube" (reversed) an old term for a cigarette common in southern England UK (Sc)

OOC ac. Acronym for 'out of control'. Used as "How OOC was Sarah last night!?!" circa. 1990's USA

oppo n. mate, friend, pal, butty - but ALWAYS in third person

Orange Balls n. A part of a cruel little game played in the playground. It consisted of a good few kids. All the kids would put their arms around each other until they were in a ring. Then they would chant in a sing song voice "Orange Balls. Orange Balls. The last one to sit down is out"

The last one to sit down was then required to go to one side as the rest of the kids would huddle together and think of the nastiest and most insulting thing that they could say about the left out kid. "X is smelly/thick/ugly" or even more damning "We hate X"

When decided upon, the kids would then form a circle around the left out kid, and then start chanting the chosen insult at the kid in the middle of the circle. Then the game would start all over again. , Kids are very cruel and masochistic.

Another contributor sends in an alternative definition:

This is slightly different to the game we played in Bolton which went thusly: Everyone held hands in a circle and skipped around singing twice...