Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—O

Ointment

Money. From the fable De la Vieille qui Oint la Palme au Chevalier (thirteenth century).

“Volebant autem praefati clerici aliquem haberë legatum natio'në Romanum, que unguentis Anglicis, auro scilicet et argento solent ad quaelibet inclinari.” —Gervais de Canterbury: Chronicle; Scriptores decem ii., 1533.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Olaf
Oil the Knocker
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