On/At the oche

Posted by TheFallen on September 15, 2002

In Reply to: On the ocky posted by Gary on September 14, 2002

: : What does "on the ocky" mean, and what is the origin?

: : A cousin wrote to me about a family gift to an aunt:

: : We are on the ocky as they say! Everyone seems to think this is a good idea....

: : which seemed to mean all set, in agreement, going ahead, or perhaps okay.

: : But in 1999 someone wrote in the alt.radio.uk.talk-radio newsgroup:

: : On the ocky--darts on Talk Radio. Got to be the end of me listening to Talk. Darts on radio is the pits.

: : In this case, "on the ocky" appears to be derogatory.

: : Interesting.

: The oche (pronounced like ocky) is the line marking where darts players stand to throw at the board. I've never heard 'on the oche' used, but if I did I would interpret it as 'ready to play'.

That's exactly right. I've also heard it (and at the oche, too) used more figuratively to mean "all prepared", or "about to go for it". My relatively poor sources claim that oche is of 20th Century origins, give "hockey" as a variant, and then bizarrely go on to state "Perhaps connected to the Old French ocher, meaning to cut a deep notch in". Don't ask me.