Oaf, subs. (old).—1. A loutish simpleton: see Buffle and Cabbage-head. Hence oafdom = the world of louts; oafish = stupid.—B. E. (c. 1696); Grose (1785).
1621. Burton, Anat. of Mel., i. ii. iv. vi. 229 (1836). Though he be an aufe, a ninny, a monster, a goos-cap.
1627. Drayton, Nymphidia, 79. The fairy left this oaf, And took away the other.
1633. Fletcher and Shirley, Night Walker; i. 4. The fear of breeding fools and oafs.
1668. Dryden, An Evening's Love, ii. This master of mine, that stands before you, without a word to say for himself, so like an oaf, as I might say.
1693. Congreve, Old Batchelor, v. 6. Sharp. Death! it can't be—an oaf, an ideot, a wittal.
1700. Congreve, Way of the World, Prologue. With Nature's oafs, 'tis quite a diff'rent Case. For Fortune favours all her Idiot-race.
1706. Farquhar, Recruiting Officer, iii. 1. What's that to you, oaf?
1773. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, iv. You great ill-fashioned oaf, with scarce sense enough to keep your mouth shut.
18[?]. Byron, Verses left in a Summerhouse. This guiltless oaf his vacancy of sense Supplied, and amply too, by innocence.
1853. Thackeray. Barry Lyndon, iii. 45. Her chair had been stopped by a highwayman; the great oaf of a servant-man had fallen down on his knees armed as he was.
1883. A. Dobson, Old-World Idylls, 34. We have passed from Philosophe-dom Into plainer modern days,—Grown contented in our oafdom, Giving grace not all the praise.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, 68. I'll 'owl at sich oafs till I'm 'oarse.
2. (old).—See quot.
1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, oaf, a Wise-acre.
Oak. subs. (old).—1. A man of
substance and credit.—B. E.
(c. 1696); Grose (1785); Matsell
(1859).
2. (University).—An outer door. To sport one's oak = to be 'not at home': indicated by closing the outer door.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1845. The Collegian's Guide, 14. In college each set of rooms is provided with an oak or outer door, with a spring lock, of which the master has one key, and the servant another.
1853. Bradley ('Cuthbert Bede'), Verdant Green, 1. viii. Mr. Verdant Green had, for the first time, sported his oak.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, vii. One evening he found himself as usual at Hardy's door about eight o'clock. The oak was open, but he got no answer when he knocked at the inner door.
Adj. (American).—Strong; rich; in good repute.—Matsell (1859).
Felling of Oaks, subs. phr.
(old).—Sea-sickness.
1608. Withal, Dict., 39. The word signifieth to be provoked, or to have appetite or desire to vomit properly upon the sea, or in a ship. They call it felling of oaks merilie.
