Odling, subs. (old).—Cheating.
1599. Ben Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour. A thread bare shark; one that never was a soldier, yet lives upon lendings. His profession is skeldering and olding.
Odno, phr. (back-slang).—'No do.'
Riding on the odno = travelling
by rail without payment.
1889. Sporting Times. Doin' a duck, macin' the rattler, ridin' on the cheap, on the odno, under the bloomin' seat.
Odour, subs. (colloquial).—Repute:
as 'good' or 'bad' odour, the
odour of sanctity, &c.
1853. Thackeray, Barry Lyndon, ix. As the Chevalier de Balibari was in particular good odour at the court of Dresden . . . I was speedily in the very best society of the Saxon capital.
1858. Geo. Eliot, Amos Barton, vi. He got into rather bad odour there, through some scandal about a flirtation, I think.
Ods, subs. (old).—A wilful
attenuation of 'God's': common
in 17th and 18th Century oaths;
e.g., ods-bodkins = God's little
body, ods-bobs, ods-fish, etc.
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iii. 5. Odsbud, Madam, have no more to say to him.
1705. Mrs. Centlivre, Gamester, v. 1 (1892), i. 184. Odsbud, sir, go to Angelica, this minute.
1782. Centlivre, Bold Stroke for a Wife. Free. Odso! 'tis Miss Anne Lovely.
1812. Combe, Dr. Syntax, Picturesque, C. xi. O! were she in coal-pit bottom, And all such jades, 'od rot 'em! My cares would then be over, And I should live in clover.
1813. Moore, Twopenny Post-bag, Letter 4. These Papist dogs—hiccup—'od rot 'em!
1844. Buckstone, The Maid with the Milking Pail. Lord P. Ods fish, why this interest in poor Lady Lucy?
Off, subs. (cricketers').—The field
of the wicket-keeper.
1856. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 8. Johnson, the younger bowler, is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off.
Adv. (colloquial).—1. Out-of-date. [Originally waiters': e.g. 'Chops is hoff' = 'there are no more chops to-day'].—2. Stale; in bad condition: e.g. Smells a little bit off, don't it?
1892. Illustrated Bits, 22 Oct., 6, 2. Theosophy is off—decidedly off.
1892. Tit-Bits, 17 Sept., 417, 3. If the leopard's tail is not spotted to the root this conundrum is declared off.
To be off, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To depart; to run away. See Amputate and Skedaddle.
1892. Ally Sloper, 27 Feb., 66, 2. Will you allow me to offer you a glass of ale? I'm afraid it's a little off. Is it? then, I'm off too.
Off bat, phr. (Winchester College).—See quot.
1866. Mansfield, School Life at Winchester, 222. Off bat. The station of one of the field in a cricket match, called by the outer world 'Point.'
Off the horn, phr. (common).—Said of very hard steak.
Off the hinge, phr. (common).—Out of work.
1853. Fun, iv. 58, A Song About Centralization. We've rights within our city bounds which no one should infringe And if those rights were broken down 'twould chuck us off the hinge.
Also see Base; bat; chump; cocoanut; colour; dot; feed; head; hook; kadoova; nut; onion; reel; rocker; saucer; song; spot.
Off-chance, subs. phr. (colloquial).—A
doubtful hazard.
