Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BLOTTY O'S, n.pl. “A schoolboys' game, played on slates or with pencil and paper. A certain number of “O's” are drawn and one boy, at the direction of the other, joins up one to the other by lines, each “O” being “blotted” out as soon as it is touched. The object of the game is to join up every “O” as directed without intersecting any of the lines” (Abd.2, Abd.9 1935).