Why is OOF an OOF and not an OOO? - Microsoft Tech ...

Here's an interesting historical question - when we say Out of Office, why does it sometimes get shortened to 'OOF'? Shouldn't it be 'OOO'? 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By TheExchangeTeam Published Jul12200411:47AM 247K Views The_Exchange_Team Microsoft ‎Jul122004 11:47AM SubscribetoRSSFeed MarkasNew MarkasRead Bookmark Subscribe EmailtoaFriend PrinterFriendlyPage ReportInappropriateContent WhyisOOFanOOFandnotanOOO? ‎Jul122004 11:47AM   Here'saninterestinghistoricalquestion-whenwesayOutofOffice,whydoesitsometimesgetshortenedto‘OOF’?Shouldn’titbe‘OOO’? InsideMicrosoft,‘OOF’meansnotjustthemessagewhichsaysyou’reOutofOffice,butithasgrowntomeantheactofbeingOutoftheOfficetoo-soyou’llgetpeopleputtingstickynotesontheirdoorsaying‘OOFThurs&Fri’orevenpeopleverballysayingthingslike,"Oh,Kevin’sOOFonvacationfortherestoftheweek’.Isupposethatsoundsbetterthan"Oh,Kevin’sOOOonvacation..." OOFwasacommandusedinthedaysofMicrosoft’sXenixmailsystem,whichsetauseras‘OutofFacility’-ieOutoftheOffice.Theusageoftheterm‘OOF’juststuck,asdidtheterm‘Littler’(e.g.onanemailsenttoadistributionlist,"Whowantstogotothecinematonight?Little‘r’ifyou’reinterested",meaningreplyjusttome)-aspreservedinOutlookwithCTRL+RforReply,andCTRL+SHIFT+R(akaBigR)forReplyAll. EwanDalton  Tags:AllPostsHistoryMicrosoft 19 Likes Like Share 6Comments Youmustbearegisteredusertoaddacomment.Ifyou'vealreadyregistered,signin.Otherwise,registerandsignin. Comment %3CLINGO-SUB%20id%3D%22lingo-sub-610191%22%20slang%3D%22en-US%22%3EWhy%20is%20OOF%20an%20OOF%20and%20not%20an%20OOO%3F%3C%2FLINGO-SUB%3E%3CLINGO-BODY%20id%3D%22lingo-body-610191%22%20slang%3D%22en-US%22%3E%3CP%3E%3C%2FP%3E%3CP%3EHere's%20an%20interesting%20historical%20question%20-%20when%20we%20say%20Out%20of%20Office%2C%20why%20does%20it%20sometimes%20get%20shortened%20to%20%E2%80%98OOF%E2%80%99%3F%20Shouldn%E2%80%99t%20it%20be%20%E2%80%98OOO%E2%80%99%3F%3CBR%20%2F%3E%26nbsp%3B%3CBR%20%2F%3EInside%20Microsoft%2C%20%E2%80%98OOF%E2%80%99%20means%20not%20just%20the%20message%20which%20says%20you%E2%80%99re%20Out%20of%20Office%2C%20but%20it%20has%20grown%20to%20mean%20the%20act%20of%20being%20Out%20of%20the%20Office%20too%20-%20so%20you%E2%80%99ll%20get%20people%20putting%20sticky%20notes%20on%20their%20door%20saying%20%E2%80%98OOF%20Thurs%20%26amp%3B%20Fri%E2%80%99%20or%20even%20people%20verbally%20saying%20things%20like%2C%20%22Oh%2C%20Kevin%E2%80%99s%20OOF%20on%20vacation%20for%20the%20rest%20of%20the%20week%E2%80%99.%20I%20suppose%20that%20sounds%20better%20than%20%22Oh%2C%20Kevin%E2%80%99s%20OOO%20on%20vacation%20...%22%3CBR%20%2F%3E%26nbsp%3B%3CBR%20%2F%3EOOF%20was%20a%20command%20used%20in%20the%20days%20of%20Microsoft%E2%80%99s%20Xenix%20mail%20system%2C%20which%20set%20a%20user%20as%20%E2%80%98Out%20of%20Facility%E2%80%99%20-%20ie%20Out%20of%20the%20Office.%20The%20usage%20of%20the%20term%20%E2%80%98OOF%E2%80%99%20just%20stuck%2C%20as%20did%20the%20term%20%E2%80%98Little%20r%E2%80%99%20(e.g.%20on%20an%20email%20sent%20to%20a%20distribution%20list%2C%20%22Who%20wants%20to%20go%20to%20the%20cinema%20tonight%3F%20Little%20%E2%80%98r%E2%80%99%20if%20you%E2%80%99re%20interested%22%2C%20meaning%20reply%20just%20to%20me)%20-%20as%20preserved%20in%20Outlook%20with%20CTRL%2BR%20for%20Reply%2C%20and%20CTRL%2BSHIFT%2BR%20(aka%20Big%20R)%20for%20Reply%20All.%3CSPAN%3E%3C%2FSPAN%3E%3C%2FP%3E%0A%3CP%3E%3CSPAN%20class%3D%22author%22%3E%3CA%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.msdn.com%2Fexchange%2Farticles%2F71391.aspx%22%20rel%3D%22noopener%20noreferrer%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EEwan%20Dalton%3C%2FA%3E%3C%2FSPAN%3E%3C%2FP%3E%3C%2FLINGO-BODY%3E Versionhistory Lastupdate: ‎Apr282020 08:17AM Updatedby: NinoBilic Labels Browse What'snew SurfaceProX SurfaceLaptop3 SurfacePro7 Windows10Apps Officeapps MicrosoftStore Accountprofile DownloadCenter MicrosoftStoresupport Returns Ordertracking Storelocations Buyonline,pickupinstore In-storeevents Education Microsoftineducation Officeforstudents Officeforschools Dealsforstudentsandparents MicrosoftAzureineducation Enterprise Azure AppSource Automotive Government Healthcare Manufacturing FinancialServices Retail Developer MicrosoftVisualStudio WindowDevCenter DeveloperNetwork TechNet Microsoftdeveloperprogram Channel9 OfficeDevCenter MicrosoftGarage Company Careers AboutMicrosoft CompanyNews PrivacyatMicrosoft Investors Diversityandinclusion Accessibility Security Sitemap ContactMicrosoft Privacy Managecookies Termsofuse Trademarks Safetyandeco Aboutourads © Microsoft