On O vs. Oh!
another minor English language pet peeve of mine...
"O" and "oh" are not the same word!
The most common culprits of confusing the two in my experience are the lyrics of songs on overheads in churches. (Which is likely due to the fact that the vocative particle is dying out in modern speech and so only exists in prayers and poems and Bible verses and songs based on them.) Every time I am reading and singing along and come across an "Oh Lord," or an "O how I...," I cringe and lose my train of thought. I may be the only worshiper in the congregation who has this problem, but it really throws me off.
Note that "O" is like "I" in that it is always capitalized. What is it? "O" is the vocative particle. It makes a noun vocative, or, in less scary-sounding terms, a noun of direct address.
That is, if you are talking to me today, you would say, "J____, do you need any ethyl acetate from the stock room?" If you are talking to me in the past -- or feeling especially emotional -- you would say, "O J____, dost thou want of any ethyl ester of acetic acid from the chamber of alchemical storage?"
On the other hand, "oh" is an interjection, usually used to indicate surprise or for emphasis. You will note that, unlike "O", it is not always capitalized; it is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence like most other words. Other than that, you can put it most anywhere in a sentence, but usually set off with commas or exclamation points.
Theoretically, you could have a sentence like this, "Oh! O J____, I did not see you there."
But if you accidentally bump into me, please do not write, "O! Oh J____, I did not see you there."
To my doubting wife, sources in support of this include the 13th ed. of the Harbrace College Handbook, chapter 23d.
"O" and "oh" are not the same word!
The most common culprits of confusing the two in my experience are the lyrics of songs on overheads in churches. (Which is likely due to the fact that the vocative particle is dying out in modern speech and so only exists in prayers and poems and Bible verses and songs based on them.) Every time I am reading and singing along and come across an "Oh Lord," or an "O how I...," I cringe and lose my train of thought. I may be the only worshiper in the congregation who has this problem, but it really throws me off.
Note that "O" is like "I" in that it is always capitalized. What is it? "O" is the vocative particle. It makes a noun vocative, or, in less scary-sounding terms, a noun of direct address.
That is, if you are talking to me today, you would say, "J____, do you need any ethyl acetate from the stock room?" If you are talking to me in the past -- or feeling especially emotional -- you would say, "O J____, dost thou want of any ethyl ester of acetic acid from the chamber of alchemical storage?"
On the other hand, "oh" is an interjection, usually used to indicate surprise or for emphasis. You will note that, unlike "O", it is not always capitalized; it is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence like most other words. Other than that, you can put it most anywhere in a sentence, but usually set off with commas or exclamation points.
Theoretically, you could have a sentence like this, "Oh! O J____, I did not see you there."
But if you accidentally bump into me, please do not write, "O! Oh J____, I did not see you there."
To my doubting wife, sources in support of this include the 13th ed. of the Harbrace College Handbook, chapter 23d.