Chapter Out in the Forty-five to Oz of O by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

not married. (See above.
   The dumb ox. St. Thomas Aquinas; so named by his fellow students at Cologne, on account of his dulness and taciturnity. (1224-1274.)
   Albertus said, “We call him the dumb ox, but he will give one day such a bellow as shall be heard from one end of the world to the other.” (Alban Butler.)

Ox-eye A cloudy speck which indicates the approach of a storm. When Elijah heard that a speck no bigger than a “man's hand” might be seen in the sky, he told Ahab that a torrent of rain would overtake him before he could reach home (1 Kings xvii. 44, 45). Thomson alludes to this storm signal in his Summer.

Ox of the Deluge The Irish name for a great black deer, probably the Mcgaceros Hiber nicus, or Irish elk, now extinct.

Oxford The College Ribbons.
   Balliol, pink, white, blue, white, pink.
   Brasenose, black, and gold edges.
   Christ Church, blue, with red cardinal's hat.
   Corpus, red and blue stripe.
   Exeter, black, and red edges.
   Jesus, green, with white edges.
   Lincoln, blue, with mitre.
   Magdalon, black and white.
   Merton, blue, and white edges, with red cross.
   New College, three pink and two white stripes.
   Oriel, blue and white.
   Pembroke, pink, white, pink.
   Queen's, red, white, blue, white, blue, white, red.
   St. John's, yellow, black, red.
   Trinity, blue, with double dragon's head, yellow and green, or blue, with white edges.
   University, blue, and yellow edges.
   Wadham, light blue.
   oreester blue, white, pink, white, blue. HALIS.
   St. Alban's, blue, with arrow- head.
   St. Edmond's, red, and yellow edges.
   St. Mary, white, black, white.
   Magdalen, black, and blue edges.

Oxford Blues The Royal Horse Guards were so called in 1690, because of their blue facings.

Oxford Boat Crew Dark blue. Cambridge boat crew, light blue.

Oxford Movement (See Tracts For The Times .)

Oxford Stroke (in rowing). A long, deep, high-feathered stroke, excellent in very heavy water. The Cambridge stroke is a clear, fine, deep sweep, with a very low feather, excellent in smooth water. The Cambridge pull is the best for smooth water and a short reach, but the Oxford for a “lumpy” river and a four-mile course.

Oxgang as a land measure, was no certain quantity, but as much as an ox could gang over or cultivate. Also called a bovate. The Latin jugum was a similar term, which Varro defines “Quod juncti boves uno die exarare : Possunt.”
   Eight oxgangs made a carucate. If an oxgang was as much as one ox could cultivate, its average would be about fifteen acres.

Oyer and Terminer (Courts of) are general gaol deliveries, held twice a year in every county. Oyer is French for to hear- i.e. hear in court or try; and terminer is French for to conclude. The words mean that the commissioners appointed are to hear and bring to an end all the cases in the county.

Oyster Fast as a Kentish oyster i.e. hermetically sealed. Kentish oysters are proverbially good, and all good oysters are fast-closed.

Oyster No more sense than an oyster. This is French: Ilraisonne raisonne comme une huitre.” Oysters have a mouth, but no head.

Oyster Part (An). An actor who appears, speaks, or acts only once. Like an oyster, he opens but once.

Oyster and Huitre (French) are variants of the same Latin word, ostrea. Old French uistre, uitre, huitre.

Oysters Who eats oysters on St. James's Day will never want. St. James's Day is the first day of the oyster season (August 5th), when oysters are an expensive luxury eaten only by the rich. By 6, 7 Vict., c. 79, the oyster season begins September 1, and closes April 30.