O. Henry	the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), American short-story writer. An extremely popular and prolific writer during his lifetime, O. Henry is noted for his sentimental, semirealistic stories dealing with the lives of modest people and his mastery of the surprise ending.	
Oak Knoll Naval Hospital	a hospital located in Oakland, California, USA. Its official name is Oakland Naval Hospital.	
Oakland	a city in northern California on the east side of San Francisco Bay and one of the major harbors of the US.	
Oakland Bridge	a bridge which spans across the San Francisco Bay in western California, between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland.	
Oakley, Annie	(1860-1926) American sharpshooter, considered the greatest of all time. Annie Oakley was famed for her incredible stunts such as shooting out flames of revolving candles while upside down on horseback and piercing the thin edge of a playing card with a bullet. She began an autobiography which was never completed due to her death in 1926.	
oar, with an	(colloquial) a variation of putting in one's oar, trying to concern oneself or take part in the affairs or discussions of other people, especially when not asked to do so. Probably referring to the action of a person in a boat rowed by others who suddenly decides to take part in the rowing himself without being asked.	
oblagata	a made-up name for a part of the brain.	
occultist	a humorous reference to an oculist, an earlier term for an ophthalmologist: a doctor who specializes in the branch of medicine dealing with the structure, functions and diseases of the eye. An occultist is one who believes in mysticism, the supernatural; a mystic.	
occupants of the throne	(figurative) persons occupying a position of dominion or supremacy.	
occupational disease	a disease that results from or is commonly acquired by people in a particular occupation.	
octubre	(Spanish) October.	
Odd Fellow	a member of the Odd Fellows, a secret society with benevolent aims. This group existed as early as the 1700s in England, though its origin is uncertain. In 1813, the society flourished in Manchester, England as the Independent Order of Odd Fellows which is the name it now carries. It has since then become the greatest of such altruistic orders, spreading into most of the countries in northern Europe and into North America. Its chief purpose is to give aid, assistance and comfort to its members and their families.	
odd man out	any atypical or unconventional person or thing.	
oddbeat	(colloquial) a variation of offbeat, not fitting the usual pattern or trend.	
odiferous	a shortened form of odoriferous, giving off an odor.	
off base	unawares (unexpectedly), off one's guard, by surprise.	
off the bat	without hesitation; immediately; quickly.	
offball	(slang) a variation of oddball meaning "strange or unconventional."	
off-base	(slang) incorrect; inaccurate.
unawares (unexpectedly), off one's guard, by surprise.	
offend, with	in an attacking or offensive manner.	
off‑line	(slang) deviant; not in accord with established or accepted practices, modes or attitudes. A variation of the phrase out of line.	
Ogpu	the official organization of secret police and detectives in the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1934. It was named the NKVD in 1934.
See also NKVD in this glossary.	
oh, brother	(slang) an expression of disappointment, disgust or surprise.	
ohmiwhums	a made-up word for a measurement of energy.	
Oklahoma	a state in the southwestern United States.	
Oklahomah	a musical comedy produced in 1943, based on Green Grow the Lilacs, a folk drama written in 1931 by Lynn Riggs (1899‑1954 American playwright whose plays deal with life in Oklahoma and Texas making special use of folk themes of that region). The music and lyrics were produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein and with its many memorable songs, Oklahoma! set an all‑time record of durability for musicals.
See also Rodgers and Hammerstein in this glossary.	
ol' Paint	a made-up name for a horse.	
'old	(dialect) hold	
Old Bailey	a historic criminal court in London on Old Bailey Street.	
old days	past times.	
Old Hundred	the tune that Psalm 100 (a verse in the Bible) is sung to. in 1696 this Psalm tune was given the number 166 in a revised book of Psalms, thus the original was named "Old Hundred" to distinguish this specific tune that went with this verse.	
old school tie	(informal) loyalty among members of a group, especially among graduates of the same school or college. From a necktie striped in the distinctive colors of any of the exclusive English public schools (schools where one pays for their education).
a necktie worn by members of a group, especially among graduates of the same school or college, as a sign of their association and loyalty.	
'ole	(dialect) hole.	
Ole Doe Methuselah	a science fiction story written by L. Ron Hubbard about a physician, Ole Doc Methuselah, who was part of an elite organization whose members "dedicated themselves to the ultimate preservation of mankind no matter the wars or explorations of space."	
O'Leary, Mrs.	a made-up name.	
Oliver Twist	a novel (approximately 400 pages long) by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), depicting the world of poverty, crime and the workhouse (poorhouse) of 19th-century London.	
Ollie	a parody of the films by Stanley Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957). Ollie (nickname of Hardy) and Stan were a team of film comedians in the early twentieth century who almost always played their movie roles under their own names, wearing derby hats and neckties. Laurel appeared as a thin, dimwitted Englishman and Hardy as an overweight American, often irritable and pompous. In their films, they constantly got in each other's way and were usually involved in hopeless business undertakings or doomed personal adventures.	
Om, mani padme hum	(Tibetan Buddhism) a chant intoned in prayer or meditation. It literally means Hail! Jewel in the Lotus! and is used humorously in the lecture.	
O-Meter	an oscilloscope (machine that shows waves) meter, also known as a theta meter and trademarked as a physiogalvanometer.
For more information, see SHSBC lecture 1, "E-Meter Talk and Demo."	
oncet uponet a timet	a made‑up phrase from once upon a time, the words which usually begin most fairy tales, and a humorous usage of the suffix ‑t, indicating something that existed or happened in the past.	
One World	a book written by Wendell Willkie in 1943.
See also Willkie, Wendell in this glossary.	
one-man band	a man who plays several musical instruments simultaneously.	
one‑shot	(informal) undertaken, issued or occurring one time only; formed for a single project or venture.
(US informal) a single subject or theme to the exclusion or neglect of others.
an attempt at achieving or accomplishing something with a single try.	
onions, knowing (one's)	(informal) having the knowledge and skill necessary for competence.	
on-the-bally	(slang) alertly, efficiently. A coined variation of on the ball.	
onus	the duty or responsibility of doing something.	
oogly-boogly rotor bug drives	a made-up term for a part or component.	
oogly-boogly-bug-rug ooger-drive	a made-up term for a part or component.	
'op	(dialect) hop.	
open sesame	the password at which the door of the robbers' cave flew open in the tale of The Forty Thieves (Arabian Nights); hence a key to a mystery, or anything that acts like magic in obtaining favor, admission, recognition, etc.	
open up the ball	(slang) begin.	
open-and-closed	(US informal) a variation of open-and-shut, easily decided; very simple or obvious.	
opening gun	a shot fired as a signal to begin something Used figuratively in the lecture.	
operation bootstrap	a coined phrase from operation, meaning any specific plan, project, etc., and bootstrap, to become successful through one's own efforts, without help from other people and in spite of disadvantages.	
Ophir	a country of uncertain location, possibly southern Arabia or the eastern coast of Africa, from which gold and precious stones and trees were brought for Solomon (king of Israel in the 10th century B.C.).	
ophthalmialitis	(medical) a variation of ophthalmitis, an inflamed condition of the eye.	
Oppenheimer	Robert J. Oppenheimer (1904-1967), American physicist, director (1942-1945) of the laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, that designed and built the first atomic bombs. Oppenheimer later became a main proponent of the civilian and international control of atomic energy. Oppenheimer strongly opposed, on both technical and moral grounds, the development of the hydrogen bomb. He was suspended from the chairmanship of the US Atomic Energy Commission in 1953 as an alleged security risk.	
orangicate	a made-up word.	
orazone	a reference to orgone, a name coined by Wilhelm Reich in his psychoanalytic theory about an assumed energy permeating the universe, the personal supply of which an individual suffering from various emotional or physical ills could allegedly replenish by sitting in a small special cabinet (orgone box) in which this energy was supposed to accumulate for use in the treatment of mental and physical illnesses.
See also Reich, Wilhelm in this glossary.	
order arms	(military) a position in rifle drilling where one brings the rifle to an upright position with its butt on the ground beside the right foot, and remains at attention.	
order of the day	(colloquial) the prevailing rule or custom of the time.	
order of, on the	somewhat like; similar to.	
Oregon pine	another name for a Douglas fir. A timber tree of the pine family, also called Douglas spruce. The wood is moderately hard, moderately heavy and very stiff and is used mainly in building construction; large quantities also go into railroad ties and shipping boxes.	
original sin	(Bible) the eating of the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which led to their expulsion from Eden by God. According to the most common teaching of Christians on the subject, all descendants of Adam and Eve—that is, all people—share in this sin and are, from the time they are conceived, in a state of sin.	
'orrible	(dialect) horrible.	
Orville and Wilbur	Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867 - 1912), American aircraft pioneers. The brothers had a bicycle-repair shop in Dayton, Ohio when they were attracted to aviation in 1892. On 17 December 1903, they made what are generally regarded as the first powered, sustained and controlled flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The first flight lasted for only 12 seconds but on the fourth, the machine traveled 59 seconds. They formed the Wright Aeroplane Company in 1909.	
Orwell	George Orwell (1903-1950), English novelist, author of the famous novel titled 1984.
See also 1984 in this glossary.	
ostrich plumes, wore	a variation of the phrase had a feather in one's cap meaning had made an achievement to be proud of.	
Oswald	Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963), the presumed assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy from a high window of a building in Dallas on November 22, 1963, as Kennedy rode down the street in an open car. Oswald was captured the day of the assassination, but was never tried; two days after Kennedy's death, as Oswald was being moved by police, a nightclub owner from Dallas, Jack Ruby, shot and killed him. A government commission concluded later that Oswald, though active in communist causes, was not part of a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. Some have questioned the findings of the commission.	
Ouspensky	Pyotr Demianovich Ouspensky (1878-1947), Russian philosopher and interpreter of his guru, G.I. Gurdjieff Being attracted to theosophy early in his life, he published several books one of which was titled Tertinum Organum (Third Work) which covered such topics as time, space, the cosmos and Eastern and Western philosophies. It was at this same time that he became associated with Gurdjieff and became a disciple of his until 1924. From then on, Ouspensky conducted lectures in England while continuing to write until his death in 1947. 
See also Gurdjieff in this glossary.	
Outrigger, The	a restaurant in Seattle, Washington, in the northwest United States.	
over the tin cup	(slang) a variation of the phrase appetite over tin cup, a pioneer Western US term used by riverboat men on the Missouri; it means thrown away violently, like "head over heels," "bowled over."	
overt doth speak loudly in accusation, the	an allusion to a statement in the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. In this tragedy, Hamlet falls into melancholia after the death of his father, the king. The king's brother, Claudius, assumes the throne and marries Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, within two months of the king's death. His father's ghost appears to Hamlet, accusing Claudius of murdering him and demanding revenge. Unable to bring himself to action and beset by doubts as to the truth of the ghost's words, Hamlet persuades some traveling players to re-enact the death of his father. The play includes a scene in which the actress depicting the queen vehemently protests the idea of remarrying after the king's death. During this scene, Hamlet asks his mother how she likes the play. The queen's reply: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
See also Shakespeare in this glossary. 	
Overture of 1812	an orchestral composition written by Russian composer Petr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow (1812).	
overwhump	a coined word meaning to overwhelm extremely.	
overwhumped	a coined word meaning "extremely overwhelmed."	
overwhumpingness	a coined word meaning the state, quality or instance of being extremely overwhelmed.	
Oxford	short for Oxford University at Oxford, England; one of the world's most prestigious universities.	
Oxfordian English	English spoken with an Oxford accent (a style of pronouncing English popularly believed to be characteristic of members of the University of Oxford).	
Oxfordians	graduates of Oxford University at Oxford, England; one of the world's most prestigious universities.