"the O face"

[FRITZ JUENGLING]

A few years ago, the kids on the announcements encouraged the other kids
in the school  (We are the Sprague Olympians, or Olys for short) to "put
on your o-face and come support the team!"
The announcement ran for several days and our administration never got
it.
Fritz
>>> zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU 10/21/2006 3:53 PM >>>
a couple days ago, Matthew Gordon offered an alternative to "come
face":

   Also known to fans of the film _Office Space_ as the "Oh face".

this would be the 1999 movie; imdb offers this quote:

   Drew: I'm thinking I might take that new chick from Logistics. If
things go well I might be showing her my O-face. "Oh... Oh... Oh!"
You know what I'm talkin' about. "Oh!"
   http://imdb.com/title/tt0151804/quotes

tons of hits for "O face" or "O-face", somewhat fewer for "Oh face"
or "Oh-face".

the movie might in fact be the source of the expression.  certainly
it  was the vector for its spread.

Details magazine has been printing O-face quizzes, with a display of
twenty faces.  in the october issue, it was (p. 180) "Game Face or O-
Face?", in which your task is to distinguish "an ace tennis player's
expression of exertion and a porn star's look of ecstasy."  in the
november issue (p. 104) it's "Idol Face or O-Face?", which provides
some "contorted expressions of an aspiring pop idol" and some "of a
seasoned porn star."  (both sexes are represented in these quizzes.)
what next, i wonder.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org