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Oaf

.

A corruption of ouph (elf). A foolish child or dolt is so called from the notion that all idiots are changelings, left by the fairies in the place of the stolen ones.

“This guiltless oaf his vacancy of sense

Supplied, and amply too, by innocence.”


Byron: Verses found in a Summer-house.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Nyʹse (2 syl.)
O
O
O
O
O.H.M.S
O.K
O. P. Riot (Old Price Riot)
O tempora! O morēs!
O Yes! O Yes! O Yes!
Oaf
Oak
Oak and Ash
Oak-tree
Oaks (The)
Oaks Famous in Story
Oakum
Oannes
Oar
Oars
Oasis