Of course? Obviously yes! Naturally.

Some words we say every day and feel as comfortable as a pair of old sweatpants, just seem wrong when you think about the individual words and what you are actually saying. OR sometimes when you listen to the sound of the word, it just doesn’t seem to fit. The latest instance of this for me was, “of course.”

Day in day out, we see or hear this phrase. These are two words we use all the time by themselves that mean something a bit different when we put them together in the phrase “of course.”

Here is how The Free Dictionary by Farflex defines of:
of ( v, v; v when unstressed)
preposition
1. Derived or coming from; originating at or from: customs of the South.
2. Caused by; resulting from: a death of tuberculosis.
3. Away from; at a distance from: a mile east of here.
4. So as to be separated or relieved from: robbed of one's dignity; cured of distemper.
5. From the total or group comprising: give of one's time; two of my friends; most of the cases.
6. Composed or made from: a dress of silk.
7. Associated with or adhering to: people of your religion.
8. Belonging or connected to: the rungs of a ladder.
9.
a. Possessing; having: a person of honor.
b. On one's part: very nice of you.
10. Containing or carrying: a basket of groceries.
11. Specified as; named or called: a depth of ten feet; the Garden of Eden.
12. Centering on; directed toward: a love of horses.
13. Produced by; issuing from: products of the vine.
14. Characterized or identified by: a year of famine.
15.
a. With reference to; about: think highly of her proposals; will speak of it later.
b. In respect to: slow of speech.
16. Set aside for; taken up by: a day of rest.
17. Before; until: five minutes of two.
18. During or on a specified time: of recent years.
19. By: beloved of the family.
20. Used to indicate an appositive: that idiot of a driver.
21. Archaic On: "A plague of all cowards, I say" Shakespeare.

Now first of all, how the hell can a two letter word have 21 separate and distinct meanings????????????????????? (Note: 21 question marks) I think I use most of these meanings with the possible exception of perhaps 6 (this is something that might work in literature or if someone with a refined British accent was saying it but not for me) and 17 (I just don’t use that construction).

course (kôrs, k rs)
Noun
1.
a. Onward movement in a particular direction; progress: the course of events.
b. Movement in time; duration: in the course of a year.
2. The direction of continuing movement: took a northern course.
3. The route or path taken by something, such as a stream, that moves. See Synonyms at way.
4. Sports
a. A designated area of land or water on which a race is held: the course of a marathon.
b. A golf course.
5. A mode of action or behavior: followed the best course and invested her money.
6. A typical or natural manner of proceeding or developing; customary passage: a fad that ran its course.
7. A systematic or orderly succession; a sequence: a course of medical treatments.
8. A continuous layer of building material, such as brick or tile, on a wall or roof of a building.
9.
a. A complete body of prescribed studies constituting a curriculum: a four-year course in engineering.
b. A unit of such a curriculum: took an introductory course in chemistry; passed her calculus course.
10. A part of a meal served as a unit at one time: The first course was a delicious soup.
11. Nautical The lowest sail on a mast of a square-rigged ship.
12. A point on the compass, especially the one toward which a vehicle, such as a ship, is moving.

Okay, fine. I’m down with all these definitions except number 11 because I have never, personally, been what you might call Nautical. The first five letters maybe, but not nautical.

So, prepositionally speaking, how does “of” hook up with “course” to give you an idiom that means:

1. obviously yes. “May I use your telephone?” “Of course, go right ahead.”
Usage notes: often used in the phrase of course not obviously no: “Is she really going to leave without paying?” “Of course not.”
2. it is obvious. Of course you should call the doctor if she starts feeling worse.

I’m too lazy to do all the iterations –252 of ‘em in all, but none of them match up too terribly well.

So my point is, “of course” isn’t anything but a made up couple of words that doesn’t mean much other than to fill a few seconds and convey a message that is, at best, remotely related to the original two words. Just remember that the next time you use the phrase, “of course.” All you’re saying is (as Curly of the Three Stooges would say), “naturally.”

Next, we’ll discuss the inappropriateness of the word, food.