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The British-English phrase O’Grady says designates a game in which players must obey a leader’s instructions if, but only if, they are prefaced with the words O’Grady says. The name O’Grady also designates the leader of this game—cf., below, quotation 4.
—Synonymous phrase: Simon says.
The phrase O’Grady says occurs, for example, in the following from the Gloucester Journal (Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England) of Monday 2nd April 1990 [page 15, column 4]:
Holy Trinity, Tibberton, was packed for the joint family service for Tibberton and Taynton to celebrate Mothering Sunday. […]
Sunday Club leaders Jane and Martin Ryder, great believers in audience participation, played an active part in the service and had worshippers playing “O’Grady says” at one point to illustrate love and obedience.
The game designated by the phrase O’Grady says was invented during the First World War (1914-1918) as a play-way for conducting physical exercises and drill in the British Army.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the phrase O’Grady says that I have found:
1-: From Notes of the Day, published in the Bristol Times and Mirror (Bristol, England) of Friday 17th August 1917 [page 3, column 6]:
An “event” well-liked by the soldiers, which affords also much amusement to civilian onlookers, is that teasing game known as “O’Grady Drill.” A squad of wounded men is formed up and drilled by a soldier. The idea is that all commands he gives in the usual manner must be unheeded; but when the order is, for instance, “O’Grady says right turn,” instant obedience must follow. Our Army is so admirably drilled that directly an ordinary order is given to the squad the natural thing is to obey instinctively. The men who respond to the stereotyped word of command fall out of the squad. Only those who stand fast till an order is prefaced by “O’Grady says” remain in the contest. By a rapid variation of orders the man acting as drill-sergeant soon bowls out the majority of the squad, and the prizes go to the two or three survivors. One wonders who invented this tantalising, but most mirth-provoking, form of recreation for soldiers.
2-: From “O’Grady”, a short story by ‘M. H. H.’, published in The Bystander (London, England) of Wednesday 9th January 1918 [page 76, column 2]—the following is about drills taking place in the yard of an army barracks:
“Now, gentlemen,” said the cast-iron, rubber-toed instructor, after he had “’Shun’d” and “Right Turned,” and “By Two’s Numbered,” us—“now, gentlemen, we’ll ’ave a little exercise, just to open the lungs and make the muscles heasy; but, as some of you know already, the hideal we strive to attain is to keep the mind busy all the time, and so to re-hact on the muscles that way, and keep us all merry and bright!” […]
[…]
Then—“We’ll ’ave a few minutes with O’Grady, now, gentlemen, […] this is a little gime we ’ave to keep everybody awake. O’Grady is a-standin’ by my side—you can’t see him, but ’e’s there—and every time O’Grady orders you to do anythin’ you do it; if ’e doesn’t tell you to do it, yer don’t do it, and every time you do anythin’ O’Grady ’asn’t ordered, you just ’ave a little run to the ’edge and back.”
[…]
“Class—’shun!” snapped out the instructor; and Stodgson ’shunned; then, in response to the unrestrained encouragement of his brother officers, “’ad a little run to the ‘edge and back.” I was one up, but I noticed that Stodgson had a look of determination as he returned to his position, and knew that he had made up his mind to see who was the better man, O’Grady or himself.
Minute succeeded minute, and Stodgson resisted all blandishments; it was a triumph of mind over habit, and the sternest commands were disregarded, unless the magic words “O’Grady says” prefaced them.
3-: From an account of the gala for wounded soldiers that was held at Maryport, in Cumbria, England, on Wednesday 17th July 1918, published in the Cumberland News (Carlisle, Cumbria, England) of Saturday 20th July 1918 [page 4, column 4]:
Gunner Eastham and Rifleman Walter were the survivors in an amusing drill game called “O’Grady says,” for which twelve started.
4-: From an account of the garden-party and fete held at the Stoke War Hospital on Saturday 20th July 1918, published in the Staffordshire Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) of Monday 22nd July 1918 [page 4, column 5]:
Another event, which again provoked much laughter from the onlookers, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by the men, was the O’Grady’s Drill. Sergt.-Major Hopkin officiated as O’Grady. There were a large number of competitors at the outset, but they were reduced in numbers at a rapid rate until four only were left. They were the winners, namely, McGaffin, Campini, Hall, and Simons. The method adopted was as follows. The men were drawn up in lines, and the first man to make an error in the orders of O’Grady, the drill master, paid the penalty by a compulsory withdrawal. It was the purpose of the drill instructor to cause confusion in the ranks and consequent lessening of his men. Every order not preceded by “O’Grady says” had to be avoided. It was wonderful how the men avoided the clever pit-falls the O’Grady laid for them, but the numbers were rapidly reduced nevertheless, and the winners richly deserved their prize.
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