oss
verbUK /ɒs/
Etymology Unclear. Middle English ōssen had a rather different meaning, "to reveal, to prophesy", but the OED suggests it could nonetheless be the same verb. The origin of the Middle English verb is itself obscure, but it may be a variant of halsen, from Old English hālsian, although this too had a rather different meaning, "to beseech, entreat; to exorcise; to imprecate".
1
Dialectal To set about, or intend be inclined to set about (doing something).
- JENNET. [...] Soa yee see Ise ossin towart hausekeepin. SARAH. Whya nowt but weel. Wees nit hev the weddin an kirsenin at yaa time, that's a cumfort. JENNET. Hed Sammy ivver offerd onny thing that's mismannerd to me, awr courtship wod sean hae[…]1840, Ann Coward Wheeler, The Westmoreland Dialect in Four Familiar Dialogues: In which an Attempt is Made to Illustrate the Provincial Idiom, page 64:
- "Dun you know if the glasses is ossing to sattle?"1872, Notes and Queries, page 492:
4 more examples
- Eh, Mary, w'ereta for? / O'm ossin' t' goo t' Eccles1876, Richard Morris, On the Survival of Early English Words in Our Present Dialects, page 60:
- Aw'm ossin t' goo t' Buxton1885, Thomas Hallam, Four Dialect Words: Clem, Lake, Nesh, and Oss, Their Modern Dialectal Rang, Meanings, Pronunciation, Etymology, and Early Or Literary Use, page 58:
- I told you to do so and so, but you dunna oss to do it.1903, Bye-gones: Relating to Wales and the Border Counties, page 136:
- ... but he didn't oss for t' goo any ner.2024 August 1, Deborah Mutch, British Socialist Fiction, 1884-1914, Volume 3, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN:
2
Dialectal To offer (to do something).
- an' nobody ossin' to do it1870, Axon, Black Kt., page 56, quoted in the EDD
- They owe fer cannels, an' meyle, an' nivver oss to pay.1875, Bickerdike, Beacon Alm., page 41, quoted in the EDD
2 more examples
- "... he ne'er osses pay me, an aw hearn foaks sen he isna gettingk on gradely reet, so aw'st just caw an ax for th' brass afore he goes to th' wa', an then aw'st caw an get thee a yew pair o' pattens as aw coom hwom!"1886, Robert Holland, A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Chester, page 459:
- Tom Stokes 'e ossed to goo an' ketch 'er, an' wen 'er runned by 'im 'e thraowed a stone vicious, an' 'it 'er ov the heye, an' 'er worn't good fur nothin' ahterwards, an' I sowld 'er fur wot 'er 'ud fetch[…]1897, Hamilton Kingsford, Vigornian Monologues: A Series of Papers in Illustration of the Dialect of Worcestershire, page 11: