For decades now there’s been a constant search for a more dignified term to describe an old age pensioner (OAP) with its image of down-at-heel frailty. Drop the P and you have OA, or Older Adult, considered by some to be an improvement. The unfortunate SS for Senior Citizen was imported from the US in the 1940s (but didn’t survive) and the GAs or Golden Agers arrived a couple of decades later. But now the chronologically challenged are having their lot redefined by a fresh rash of acronyms: WOTCHA (wonderful old thing, considering his/her age); TEPID (tastes expensive, pension inadequate, dammit!) and HOPEFUL (hard-up old person expecting full useful life).
| O |
ocean; human blood type, ABO group |
| O |
octavo (paper size); old; owner; only; over (cricket) |
| O&E |
operations and engineering |
| O&M |
Ogilvie & Mather (advertising agency); organisation and method |
| OA |
older adult |
| OAP |
old age pensioner |
| OAPEC |
Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| OAS |
Organisation of American States; Organisation de I’armee secrete (former pro-French political organisation in Algeria) |
| OAU |
Organisation of African Unity |
| OB |
Old Bailey, London; outside broadcast; old bonded whisky; old boy |
| OBAFGKMRNS |
Classification of stars by US astronomer Henry Draper according to temperature and luminosity (mnemonic: Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now, Susan) |
| OBE |
Order of the British Empire; one button exposed (shielded warning that a man’s fly is open); other bugger’s efforts |
| obit |
obituary |
| obj |
object; objective |
| obl |
oblique; oblong |
| OBM |
Ordnance Bench Mark |
| obs |
obsolete (also obsol); obscure; observer; obstetrics; obstetrician |
| OC |
Officer Commanding |
| oc |
ocean (also o); office copy; over the counter |
| o/c |
overcharge; overcharged |
| o’c |
of the clock = o’clock |
| occ |
occupation; occupational; occasional; occurrence |
| OCD |
obsessive compulsive disorder |
| OCR |
optical character recognition/reader |
| OCS |
Officer Candidate School |
| Oct |
October |
| oct |
octavo (printing) |
| OCUC |
Oxford and Cambridge Universities’ Club |
| OD |
Officer of the Day; outside diameter; overdose (OD’d = overdosed) |
| O/D |
overdrawn; overdraft; on demand |
| ODA |
Overseas Development Administration of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
| ODESSA |
Ocean Data Environmental Sciences Services Acquisition; Organisation to aid escape of Nazi SS members after WW2 |
| ODETTE |
Organisation for Data Exchange Through Tele-Transmission in Europe |
| ODM |
Ministry of Overseas Development |
| ODP |
overall development planning |
| OE |
Old English (language) |
| oe |
omissions excepted |
| OECD |
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development |
| OED |
Oxford English Dictionary |
| OEDIPUS |
Oxford English Dictionary Interpretation, Proofing and Updating System |
| OEEC |
Organisation for European Economic Cooperation |
| OEM |
original equipment manufacturer (computers) |
| o’er |
over |
| OF |
Old French (language) |
| off |
official (also offic); office; officer |
| OFFER |
Office of Electricity Regulation |
| OFGAS |
Office of Gas Supply |
| oflag |
offizierslager = German POW camp for captured Allied officers |
| OFS |
Orange Free State (South Africa) |
| oft |
often |
| OFWAT |
Office of Water Services |
| OFT |
Office of Fair Trading |
| OFTEL |
Office of Telecommunications |
| OG |
Officer of the Guard; original gum (philately) |
| og |
own goal (football) |
| OGM |
ordinary general meeting |
| OGPU |
Obedinennoe Gosudarstvennoe politicheskoe upravlmie = Ail-Union State Political Organisation (Soviet police), 1923–34, Political Organisation (1924–34) |
| oh |
overhead (also o/h); on hand |
| ohc |
overhead camshaft |
| OIT |
Organisation internationale du travail = International Labour Organisation |
| ojt |
on the job training |
| OK, ok |
alright; everything in order (also okay; okeh) |
| Okie |
Migrant worker in 1930s California (from Oklahoma) |
| OLC |
Oak Leaf Cluster (US military award); online computer |
| Old Test |
Old Testament |
| O-level |
Ordinary level examinations; now GCSE |
| OM |
Order of Merit; ordnance map |
| OMM |
Officier de I’Ordre du Merite Militaire = French military decoration |
| OMS |
Organisation Mondiale de la Sante = World Health Organisation |
| on appro |
on approval |
| ONC |
Ordinary National Certificate |
| OND |
Ordinary National Diploma |
| ono |
or nearest offer |
| Ont |
Ontario, Canada |
| ont |
ordinary neap tide |
| OOD |
Officer of the Deck |
| OOG |
Officer of the Guard |
| ooo |
of obscure origin (dictionary term) |
| o/o/o |
out of order |
| 007 |
British Secret Service codename for Ian Fleming’s fictional spy James Bond |
| oow |
Officer of the Watch |
| OP |
out of print; old people; other person |
| op |
operation (ops = operations); operator; operational; opposite (also opp); optical; opaque |
| Op art |
optical art (optically influenced designs, launched in 1960s) |
| op cit |
opere citato = in the work cited |
| OPC |
ordinary Portland cement |
| OPEC |
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| OPEX |
operational, executive and administrative personnel |
| ophth |
ophthalmic |
| opp |
opposite (also op); opposed |
| opr |
operator |
| opt |
optical; optician; optimum; optional |
| OR |
official receiver; orderly room; other ranks |
| or |
owner’s risk; overhaul and repair (also o/r) |
| ORBIS |
orbiting radio beacon ionospheric satellite |
| ORBIT |
on-line retrieval of bibliographical information |
| orch |
orchestra |
| ord |
ordained; ordinary; ordnance |
| org |
organisation; organic; organ |
| orig |
original; origination |
| O-ring |
rubber oil seal ring used in machinery |
| orn |
ornithology (also ornith); ornamental |
| Orth, orth |
Orthodox (religion); orthopaedic; orthography |
| o/s, OS |
out of stock; out of service; outsize; ordinary seaman; operating system (computers) |
| OSA |
Order of Saint Augustine |
| OSB |
Order of Saint Benedict |
| OSD |
Order of Saint Dominic |
| o’seas |
overseas |
| OSF |
Order of Saint Francis |
| OSS |
Office of Strategic Services (US) |
Australians are loth to use long words and they are ferocious verbal surgeons. But they also possess the curious habit of adding an ‘o’ at the end of words they abbreviate:
