Occam's Razor






Occam's razor

The principle that in explaining something no more assumptions should be made than are necessary.

This principle takes its name from to the English philosopher and Franciscan friar William of Occam (c. 1285-1349)...the image is that of the razor cutting away all extraneous assumptions.




Related Idioms and Phrases :



rest on your oars = lay on your oars

cease rowing by leaning on the handles of your oars thereby lifting them horizontally out of the water

relax your efforts

A US variant of this phrase is lay on your oars.



stick your oar in = poke your oar in = put your oar in

give an opinion or advice without being asked – informal

1992 - Daily Telegraph - My only minor fault is sometimes like putting my oar in and my advice can be a little brutal.



feel your oats

feel lively and buoyant – US informal

Oats are used as feed for horses, making them friskier and more energetic.



get your oats

have sexual intercourse – informal

1965 - William Dick - A Bunch of Rat bags - I was kissing her excitedly and passionately….Cookie, you're going to get your oats tonight for sure, I thought to myself.



off your oats

lacking an appetite – informal



sow your wild oats

go through a period of wild or promiscuous behaviour while young.

Wild oats are weeds found in cornfields which resemble cultivated oats…spending time sowing them would be a foolish or useless activity. The expression has been current since the late 16th century… from the mid 16th to the early 17th century, wild oat was also used as a term for a dissolute young man.



no object

not influencing or restricting choices or decisions

1998 - Independent - I'm a very impulsive buyer, if I see something I buy it, money no object.



odd one out = odd man out

someone or something that is different to the others

someone who is not able to fit easily or comfortably into a group or society



ask no odds

ask no favours – US



by all odds

certainly - North American



it makes no odds

it does not matter - informal chiefly British

This phrase and what's the odds below come from an earlier use of odds to mean difference in advantage or effect.



lay odds = give odds

offer a bet with odds favourable to the other person betting

be very sure about something.

The opposite of lay odds in sense is take odds which means offer a bet with odds unfavourable to the other person betting.




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