O'clock

[giraffe_02]

what does o'clock stand for? why do we say this?

[shaneystar2]

Short for ......of or according to the clock.
I suppose in days of yore they would say something like ....It"s twelve of the clock ......over time it's become shortened .

[Mr Songman]

"In times past clocks were relatively rare. Most people told time by some reference to the position of the sun or moon. The times provided by these two bodies do not always concur with those provided by a clock. Hence there was a need to differentiate between the time provided "of the clock" (o'clock) and the time used by the vast majority of people in a given locality. "

Benedict Giovine, Liverpool, UK

Sounds reasonable!

[Quizmonster]

The earliest recorded use of 'o'clock' in about 1720 - after of the clock, of clock, at clock, a clock had been used - was a kind of poetic joke..

"'Tis the stomach's solid stroke
That tells this being, what's o'clock."

So, it referred to our internal 'clock' rather than anything mechanical or heavenly.