Yet another Etymology That Won't Die (s. nob.)

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:11 PM -0500 2/23/02, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
>On Sat, Feb 23, 2002 at 02:09:18PM -0500, Mark A Mandel wrote:
>>  On Sat, 23 Feb 2002, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>
>>  #  I kind of like the "snips and snobs" = 'tailors and cobblers' story
>>  #myself, but I'll settle for "o.o.o.")
>>
>>  o yeah? ;-)\ What's "o.o.o."? I gather it means 'origin unknown', but
>>  how?
>
>"of obscure origin"
>
Yes.  Sorry; I had assumed incorrectly that this was a standard
lexicographic initialism (one I've always enjoyed, for some obscure
reason).