OB, noun1

/əʊ ˈbiː/
Forms:
Also O.B.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Initial letters of Afrikaans Ossewa Brandwag, ossewa oxwagon + brandwag sentinel.
historical
a. A short name for the Ossewa Brandwag, an organization which was founded in 1939 by Afrikaner nationalists as a cultural movement, but which became increasingly militant in its adherence to Nazism; ossewa sense 1. Also attributive. b. A member of this organization. See also brandwag sense 2, stormjaer sense 2.
1940 Forum 13 Oct. 19Several new Afrikaans student organisations had sprung up as a result of a dislike of ‘the totally un-Afrikaans fuehrer principle’ introduced by the O.B.
1941 Forum 20 Sept. 29You pluck really nice propaganda stuff out of an empty top-hat. First an O.B. jacket, and now school children are spattered with swastikas.
1947 Roberts & Trollip S. Afr. Opposition 73The O.B. movement had been founded in Bloemfontein in October 1938, upon the occasion of the centenary of the Great Trek.
1948 Press Digest No.2, 12One point which still has to be clarified is whether the O.B. will agree to any of its more senior ‘officers’..accepting nomination for seats in Parliament.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 179Having started by announcing itself in favour of a republic, the OB was stated by van Rensburg to be ‘the core and concentration of Afrikanderdom’.
1952 B. Davidson Report on Sn Afr. 156As the years passed, and all hopes of Hitler’s final victory vanished from the scene, the earlier enthusiasms of the ‘OB’ became more and more embarrassing to the Nationalists.
1963 S.H. Skaife Naturalist Remembers 139‘It’s not bees that are bothering us, but O.B.’s’. He meant members of the Ossewa-Brandwag that was very active at the time.
1973 A.J.H. Van der Walt in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. VIII. 395The O.B...was founded on 4 Feb. 1939 in Bloemfontein and modelled on the Commando system in the erstwhile..Boer republics, with a commandant-general as leader, appointed by a ‘Groot Raad’ (High Council) comprising representatives of provincial boards.
1986 T. Wentzel in Weekend Argus 8 Mar.In the 40s the National Party broke with the militantly National-Socialist OB and opposed it as the OB became increasingly involved in politics while it was supposed to operate only culturally.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 349Although it was founded to promote ‘cultural activities’ and ideals,..the OB quickly took on a distinctly military flavour.
1993 S. Branca in Sunday Times 11 July 17That the OB succeeded in setting up a network of subversives across the length and breadth of South Africa is clear from Beecroft’s reports.
A short name for the Ossewa Brandwag, an organization which was founded in 1939 by Afrikaner nationalists as a cultural movement, but which became increasingly militant in its adherence to Nazism; ossewa sense 1. Also attributive.
A member of this organization.
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nylon, nounn.o.b., nounn.2
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