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Titel: Äldre inlägg (arkiv) till 2006-05-06
Skrivet av: Jan Ek (Janek) skrivet 2006-03-11, 12:39: Charles,

Med ett stort O translated into with a big O is a very old qualifying expression. It is added to other statements to make them stronger.

It is still in frequent use in modern Swedish as also a Google-search suggests. I have used it since childhood myself. While the usage today seems limited to situations where the noun involved really is a word starting with the letter o, I suspect it was originally attached to just any really important statement, as in your example when it is connected with ärlig - honest. In this way your writer wants to make sure we think of honest in its very best and strongest meaning of the word.

The etymology of the expression is unknown to me, but my best guess is it's based on the fundamental respect for ordet, the word, as in the word of the Bible. In old biblical text the word, is also God's will and when used in that particular meaning always spelled with a capital O in respect of God.

Examples of modern usage could be:

That is an organisation with a big O - a really big organisation.

and then we took the detour (omvägen) with a big O - a detour that took us very far from the shortest route.

Also, and hopefully not offending anyone with this example of modern language usage - the orgasm with a big O. A long way from it's religous roots indeed .

Please accept that I am really a linguistic amateur with no real academic credentials. I'm not saying this is the perfect explanation, but it is my best take. For a supporting reference I attach a link, a letter written by Athanasios to Serapion from year 350.