od

OD is short for overdose, or taking so much of a drug that it harms or kills you.

How is OD pronounced?

What are other forms of OD?

O.D.

Overdose combines over, as in “excessive,” and dose, a quantity of a medication or drug. The word dates back to the early 1700s.

The shortened form, OD, is dated to the late 1950s. Like overdose, OD can be a noun and verb. The term may have been popularized by 1960s culture, including everything from hippies to the TV show Dragnet.

Drug ODs are usually spoken of in reference to hard, illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine or prescription painkillers such as OxyContin. They cause the body to shut down, often fatally, though antidotes such as naloxone can help in the case of opiates. Note, though, that one can also OD on everyday medications to various degrees of side effects.

Fast forward to the 1990–2000s, whose culture further spread the term. This includes its use in popular culture like the TV medical drama ER and the reality show Cops as well as, more seriously, the U.S. opioid epidemic, involving far too many real-life ODs.

A number of celebrities have died of ODs in recent decades, from River Phoenix in 1993 to Heath Ledger in 2008 to Prince in 2016. These, tragically, have raised the profile of OD in the popular lexicon.

OD can be used as a noun (He died of an OD) or a verb (He OD’d on heroin).

It is used by health professionals, law enforcement, and public workers in various situations handling actual overdoses or policy around addiction.

Friday night TL cops were 1st on scene flagged down on an OD w/3 victims down at GG/Jones. Their effort saved all 3 lives w/Narcan & revival techniques. In other incidents, cops broke out car windows to get to unconscious OD vict & saved another in BART. 3 days, 6 more OD saves. pic.twitter.com/9EXJLI1bYJ

— SFPD Tenderloin (@SFPDTenderloin) February 23, 2020

It is also used in everyday speech and writing by the average person discussing or dealing with drug use and abuse.

Less seriously, OD has become a metaphor for too much of anything. This may have inspired the slang ode, meaning “very” or “intensely.”

I literally could OD on memes

— scott killhefner (@Chiappetta2390) September 1, 2016

More examples of OD:

“‘Survivor’ winner bit officer after being revived with OD drug: cops”

—Associated Press (headline), February 2018