Chapter Odour to Ogygian Deluge of O by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

when in pairs is that to the right hand of the coachman, the horses on his left -hand side are called the “near” horses. This, which seems rather anomalous, arises from the fact that all teamsters walk beside their teams on the left side, so that the horses on the left side are near him, and those on the right side are farther off.
   He is well off; he is badly off. He is in good circumstances; he is straitened in circumstances, étre bien [or mal] dans ses affaires. In these phrases “off” means fares, “he fares well [or ill]; his affairs go-off well [or ill]. (Anglo-Saxon, of-faran.)

Off-hand Without preparation; impromptu. The phrase, “in hand,” as, “It was long in hand,” means that it was long in operation, or long a-doing; so that “off-hand” must mean it was not “in hand.”

Off his Head Delirious, deranged, not able to use his head; so “off his feed,” not able to eat or enjoy his food. The latter phrase is applied to horses which refuse to eat their food.

Off the Hooks Indisposed and unable to work. A door or gate off the hooks is unhinged, and does not work properly. Also, dead.

Off with his Head! So much for Buckingham! (Colley Cibber: The Tragical History of Richard III., altered from Shakespeare.)

Offa's Dyke, which runs from Beachley to Flintshire, was not the work of Offa, King of Mercia, but was repaired by him. It existed when the Romans were in England, for five Roman roads cross it. Offa availed himself of it as a line of demarcation that was sufficiently serviceable, though by no means tallying with his territory either in extent or position.

Og, King of Bashan, according to Rabbinical mythology, was an antediluvian giant, saved from the flood by climbing on the roof of the ark. After the passage of the Red Sea, Moses first conquered Sihon, and then advanced against the giant Og (whose bedstead, made of iron, was above 15 feet long and nearly 7 feet broad, Deut. iii. 11). The Rabbins say that Og plucked up a mountain to hurl at the Israelites, but he got so entangled with his burden, that Moses was able to kill him without much difficulty.

Og, in the satire of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is Thomas Shadwell, who succeeded Dryden as poet-laureate. Dryden called him MacFlecknoe, and says “he never deviates into sense.” He is called Og because he was a very large and fat man. (Part ii.)

Oghams The alphabet in use among the ancient Irish and some other Celtic nations prior to the ninth century.

“The oghams seem to have been merely tree-runes. The Irish regarded the oghams as a forest, the individual characters being trees (feada), while each cross-stroke is called a twig (fleasg).”- Isaac Taylor: The Alphabet, vol. ii. chap. viii. p. 226.

Oghris The lion that followed Prince Murad like a dog. (Croquemitaine.)

O'gier the Dane (2 syl.). One of the paladins of King Charlemagne. Various fairies attended at his birth, and bestowed upon him divers gifts. Among them was Morgue, who when the knight was a hundred years old embarked him for the isle and castle of Avalon, “hard by the terrestrial paradise.” The vessel in which he sailed was wrecked, and Ogier was in despair, till he heard a voice that bade him “fear nothing, but enter the castle which I will show thee.” So he got to the island and entered the castle, where he found a horse sitting at a banquet-table. The horse, whose name was Papillon, and who had once been a mighty prince, conducted him to Morgue the Fay, who gave him (1) a ring which removed all infirmities and restored him to ripe manhood; (2) a Lethean crown which made him forget his country and past life; and (3) introduced him to King Arthur. Two hundred years rolled on, and France was invaded by the Paynims. Morgue now removed the crown from Ogier's head and sent him to defend “le bon pays de France.” Having routed the invaders, Morgue took him back to Avalon, and he has never reappeared on this earth of ours. (Ogier le Danois; a romance.)
   O'gier the Dane. Represented as the Knave of Spades