Did you know? THIS is what the ‘o’ in ‘o’clock’ stands for

Have you wondered what the "o" in "o'clock" means? A woman on Threads did and she put out her query, leaving other users stumped. But there were a few who knew the answer and so now, we also finally know.

The history of its use goes pretty far back and has an absolutely logical reason.

A user by the name @jenny_nuel1, who describes herself as a fashion designer on Threads, asked her followers if anyone knows what the “o” actually stands for. “What’s the meaning of ‘O’ in o’clock???” she wrote.

The question triggered a wave of replies, but most of them were incorrect. People wrote that the "o" stands for “zero,” “oida” ( meaning “old person” in Viennese), “Omega” and more.

However, some users dug out the real meaning and wrote that it meant "of" the clock. So when we say the time, for eg. 9 o'clock, it actually means, "of the clock".

Turns out, this is exactly what it stands for. The explanation?

A user wrote, "At the invention of the clock, many people used the sundial, so to make the distinction, many people using the clock would state it’s ‘of the clock.'"

Curious netizens were interested by now and some of them wanted to know more, especially its origin.

Another user, John Brown, with the user name @johnbrown2812 on Threads, backed the first user's explanation. “The phrase ‘o’clock’ is a contraction of ‘of the clock,’ which was historically used to specify the time according to the clock,” he wrote.

Giving an example, the user wrote, "it’s 3 o’clock’ originally meant ‘it is 3 of the clock.’ Over time, ‘of the’ was shortened to just ‘O,’ leading to the phrase we commonly use today.”

The use of apostrophein the "o'" also has a reason. According to Britannica, since it is an abbreviated form of "of the clock", the apostrophe is used.

"An apostrophe is used in o’clock because the word is a contraction of the phrase ‘of the clock,'" the dictionary mentions.

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Sundials were used to tell the time for years. The shadow made by the sun on the dial reflected what time it was.

Breaking down other words

Merriam-Webster describes it as "according to the clock" and "used for indicating position or direction as if on a clock dial".

Other words that were earlier shortened include "OK" and "OW". Merriam-Webster says the words were a shortened form of regular words "all correct" and "all right".

Humorists in the 1820s and 1830s used odd misspellings of popular phrases. “‘All right’ became ‘O.W.,’ as an abbreviation for ‘oll wright.’ And ‘all correct’ became o.k., as an abbreviation for ‘oll correct,'” Merriam-Webster explained.