OOO
noun

- abbreviation for ‘out of office’: a reply that can be automatically sent to an email that you have received when you are not in the office and cannot reply personally

Cambridge Dictionary

—
ORIGINS

The interjection “oh” can express various emotions (fear, surprise, pain, invocation, gladness, admiration, etc.) from the 1530s, derives from Middle English o, from Old French ô, oh or directly from Latin o, oh.

“Oh” is often extended for emphasis, as in “Oh, baby”, a stock saying from ca. 1918; “Oh, boy” by 1917; “Oh, yeah” 1924.

The reduplicated form “oh-oh” as an expression of alarm or dismay is attested from 1944, as “uh-oh” by 1935. “Oh-so” meaning “so very” (often sarcastic or ironic) is by 1916. “Oh yeah?” meaning “Really? Is that so?” is attested from 1930.

—
DO WE REALLY NEED TO KNOW?

Some people personalize their OOOs by trying to be funny: “I’m currently out of the office and can be reached by waiting until I get back.”

Others reveal: “l’m out of office getting married”, or disclose their sense of adventure: “Please note that I am out traveling in a remote area in Greenland and will be offline until…”.

Oversharing is uncalled-for: “I’m on PTO” (paid time off) has been common in corona-times, despite the inelegance of reminding strangers that you received compensation for being unavailable.

If someone is surfing in Malibu, attending a conference, running an ultra-marathon, or taking time off to paint their house, do we really need to know the details?

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“It’s usually unnecessary to give details of absence in OOO messages.”

—
THANKS to Lex for prompting today’s OWAD.

—
HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40