OMG. Editing today. Line of dialogue: "Lots 'a folks got 'em." Wondering about that sentence. Looked up lotsa and lotta. Neither in use until after 1870! Now wondering how I came up with the 'a. That can't be right, can it? Start looking in online slang dictionaries, the O.E.D., abbreviation dictionaries. Finally, after much wasted time, realize I'm looking for the contraction of 'of.' And yes, the contraction is o'. But here's the amazing thing I discovered: the contraction o' is used in so many English phrases, and I never once wondered what the o' stood for.
o'clock : of the clock
cat-o'-nine-tails : cat-of-nine-tails
jack-o'-lantern : jack of the lantern
will-o'-the-wisp : will-of-the-wisp
About Me
- Sheri Humphreys
- Sheri Humphreys used to be an Emergency Room nurse, but today applies bandages, splints, and slings to the characters of her Victorian romance novels. She loves to ignore yardwork and housework and read—usually a book every one to three days. Having conjured stories in her mind her entire life, she wondered if she were normal. Then she began putting stories to paper and became a two-time Golden Heart® finalist. She lives with a Jack Russell mix rescue, Lucy, in a small town on the central California coast. A Hero to Hold received a prized Kirkus Star and was Kirkus’ Indie Books of the Month Selection November 2016