I know it is shortened from the old '"of the clock" but it seems a very odd expression? Why not "4 clock"
2006-11-30 03:28:00 · 5 answers · asked by jaunty 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
True "o'clock" is short for "of the clock", but you must understand the sense of "of" here. It might be better to express the ideas as "according to the clock".
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970102
But even that does not explain the imagery involved in this expression, which we find by the14th century (Chaucer).
For that we need to go back to the origins of the mechanical clock itself and the very word "clock".
"Clock" comes from Latin 'cloca' meaning "BELL". It was the term applied to the newer devices in use for measuring time in the thirteenth century. As the word itself suggests, the key feature of these clocks is the bell that chimed the hours In fact, these clocks, often set out in public in a tower to make it possible to notify everyone, did not necessarily have hands.
The key thing, then, was notifying people of the HOUR of the day (not the minute, and not, at least at first, the quarter or half hour either). This practice of marking/announcing the hours is echoed by the watchman's call "nine o'clock and all is well." Thus it is scarcely surprising that this way of expressing the time did not (and still does not, except in certain highly formal uses) state anything BUT the HOUR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock#A_new_mechanism
So you may picture the situation around 1300 -- the bell in the 'clock tower' strikes ONE time announcing that the hour is "one of ['according to'] the clock".
2006-11-30 05:17:05 · answer #1 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before clocks had two hands, clocks had one hand. The term o'clock is a contraction which means: "on the clock" or "of the clock". If he one handed clock's hand is on the 4, it is 4 o'clock.
2006-11-30 03:49:24 · answer #2 · answered by David M 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
o'clock I suppose would be easier to say. In many old English terminologies, they often shortened things like this. 4 clock would just sound like you were saying there are 4 clocks. They didn't always add an "s" to make things plural back then.
2006-11-30 03:30:12 · answer #3 · answered by cathy_cmr 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Saying "4 clock" would be like saying "what watch is it?' for what time is it.
2006-11-30 03:29:59 · answer #4 · answered by Robert B 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
what does the "4 o clock thing" have to do with it? I would love to know as I teach ESL. Now you got me intrigued.
2006-11-30 03:46:44 · answer #5 · answered by Butterfly 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋