A Dictionary of Cont..

obloquy
meaning of unconscious and, despite the indignant
protests of Fowler, Partridge, and Sir A. P.
Herbert, permits oblivion in this sense to be
followed by either of or to (She was oblivious
of his infatuation. She was oblivious to his
attentions). In sum, oblivious can be synonymous
with forgetful and unmindful. Like forgetful
and unmindful, it may be followed by a
clause without a preposition, as in he was oblivious
how closely his humanitarianism bordered
on sentimentality.
obloquy. See abuse.
obnoxious. See noxious.
obscenity. See blasphemy.
obscure. See mysterious.
obsequies. An obsequy is a funeral rite or ceremony.
It is almost always used in the plural.
Funeral obsequies is redundant. Obsequies is a
word of high solemnity and rather pretentious
and a little consciously elegant when applied to
the ordinary funeral service. Since funerals are,
however, commonly times when elegance and
splendor are thought fitting, the very faults of
the word may make it harmonious with the
occasions to which it is applied.
One of the finest scenes in American literature
is when the duke, in Huckleberry Finn,
tries to persuade the king to substitute obsequies
for the more original term orgies. But the king
is too skilful a master of hokum and false
etymology to have to admit a fault.
I say orgies [he blandly observes], not because
it’s the common term, because it ain’t
--obsequies bein’ the common term-but
because orgies is the right term. Obsequies
ain’t used in England no more now-it’s gone
out. We say orgies now in England. Orgies is
better, because if means the thing you’re after
more exact. It’s a word that’s made up out’n
the Greek orgo, outside, open, abroad; and
the Hebrew jeesum, to plant, cover up; hence
inter. So, you see, funeral orgies is an open
or public funeral.
As Huck says, “He was the worst I ever
struck.”
observance; observation. Observance describes
the action of conforming to or following (A
wise couch insists on the observance of training
rules), the keeping or celebrating by appropriate
procedure, ceremonies, etc. (The observance
of Easter . . .).
Observation describes the act of noticing or
perceiving, of regarding attentively (The observation
of the habits of birds has brought to
light some very curious facts), or the faculty
or habit of noticing or observing (His powers
of observation were highly developed), or an
utterance or remark presumably based upon
observing (These unfriendly observations were
not well received by the sullen crowd). See also
remark.
observe. When this verb is used in an active form
it may be followed by an object and the simple
form of a verb, as in I observed him stop, by
an object and the -ing form of a verb, as in
I observed him stopping, or by a clause, as in
I observed he stopped. When it is used in a
passive form it may be followed by a toinfinitive,
as in he was observed to stop or by
the -ing form of a verb, as in he was observed
stopping.
obsolete; obsolescent. That is obsolete which is
no longer used, has been discarded, is out of
date. That is obsolescent which is becoming out
of use, is in the process of being discarded, is
to all appearances going out of date. If a word
is obsolete it is not used any more or is not
used in a certain sense any more. There is very
little dispute about whether or not a certain
word is obsolete. Obsolescent, however, often
reflects merely an opinion, an estimate, an
assumption. It is nowhere near so certain a
word as obsolete. There can be wide differences
of opinion as to whether or not a word is obsolescent.
It may, for instance, be going out of
use in one part of the country, or in one social
group, but flourishing in others.
obstacle, meaning something that stands in the
way or obstructs progress, is properly followed
by the preposition to (His reluctance to compromise
is an obstncle to his political success).
obstacle; obstruction; biudrance; impediment. An
obstacle is something material or non-material
which stands in the way of literal or figurative
progress (The great obstacle to progress is
prejudice. A roadblock was the first obstacle
to the tank column’s advance). An obstruction
is something that more or less completely
blocks a passage (An obstruction of the bowels
precipitated his death). When used figuratively,
it often carries the suggestion of something that
has been put in the way intentionally (These
delays seem a deliberate obstruction of justice).
A hindrance is something which hinders or
holds back (It is a question whether language
has been an aid or a hindrance to knowledge.
The fetters. . which he had been unable to break
off, proved a hindrance to his escape). An impediment
is derived from the Latin for a burden
which by its weight shackles the feet. Zmpedimenta
was the Latin word for the baggage of
an army and the word is still occasionally used
in this special sense (The general decided to
go ahead of his impedimenta). In the sense
of an obstacle, therefore, an impediment does
not so much obstruct as hinder by being a
burden (Those impediments provided for my
hindrance . . .). In the sense of something that
impedes the functions or health of the body,
impediment is marked obsolete in the Oxford
English Dictionary which, however, admits it
in the special sense of stuttering as an impediment
in the speech. In the United States impediment
in this sense (His defective hearing proved
a severe impediment in his college work) is
standard.
obtain. See get and secure.
obtrude. See intrude.
obvious. See apparent.
occurrence. See event, happening.
octopus. The plural is octopuses or octopodes or
octopi. Octopuses is good English, Octopodes
is good Greek. Octopi is an incorrectly formed