Where is "ok" originally come from?

Question

and what its mean ?

Answer 1

Eric Partridge, in Origins (1983), says OK derives from the OK Club, which supported Martin "Old Kinderhook" Van Buren in 1840. That isn't wrong, but it's only half the story.

William and Mary Morris, in the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (1977), mention the OK Club and give several other theories as well, including the off-the-wall idea that OK comes from "Aux Cayes," a port in Haiti noted for its rum. They imply the matter is still shrouded in mystery.

Baloney. The etymology of OK was masterfully explained by the distinguished Columbia University professor Allen Walker Read in a series of articles in the journal American Speech in 1963 and 1964.

The letters, not to keep you guessing, stand for "oll korrect." They're the result of a fad for comical abbreviations that flourished in the late 1830s and 1840s.

Read buttressed his arguments with hundreds of citations from newspapers and other documents of the period. As far as I know his work has never been successfully challenged.

The abbreviation fad began in Boston in the summer of 1838 and spread to New York and New Orleans in 1839. The Boston newspapers began referring satirically to the local swells as OFM, "our first men," and used expressions like NG, "no go," GT, "gone to Texas," and SP, "small potatoes."

Many of the abbreviated expressions were exaggerated misspellings, a stock in trade of the humorists of the day. One predecessor of OK was OW, "oll wright," and there was also KY, "know yuse," KG, "know go," and NS, "nuff said."

Most of these acronyms enjoyed only a brief popularity. But OK was an exception, no doubt because it came in so handy. It first found its way into print in Boston in March of 1839 and soon became widespread among the hipper element.

It didn't really enter the language at large, however, until 1840. That's when Democratic supporters of Martin Van Buren adopted it as the name of their political club, giving OK a double meaning. ("Old Kinderhook" was a native of Kinderhook, New York.)

OK became the warcry of Tammany hooligans in New York while beating up their opponents. It was mentioned in newspaper stories around the country.

Van Buren's opponents tried to turn the phrase against him, saying that it had originated with Van Buren's allegedly illiterate predecessor, Andrew Jackson, a story that has survived to this day. They also devoted considerable energy to coming up with unflattering interpretations, e.g., "Out of Kash, Out of Kredit, and Out of Klothes."

Newspaper editors and publicists around the country delighted in coming up with even sillier interpretations-- Oll Killed, Orfully Konfused, Often Kontradicts, etc.--so that by the time the campaign was over the expression had taken firm root nationwide.

As time went on, though, people forgot about the abbreviation fad and Old Kinderhook and began manufacturing their own etymologies. Here's a sampling:

(1) It's a derivative of the Choctaw Indian affirmative "okeh." Andrew Jackson, who figures in many stories about OK, is said to have introduced the word to the white man.

(2) Another Jackson story has it that he used to mark OK for "oll korrect" on court documents. In the one example of this that was actually unearthed, however, the OK was found actually to be OR, for "order recorded," a common courthouse abbreviation.

(3) It was a telegraphic signal meaning "open key," that is, ready to receive. Others say OK was used for "all right" because A and R had already been appropriated for other purposes. Big problem with this theory: the first telegraph message was transmitted in 1844, five years after OK appeared.

(4) It stands for O. Kendall & Sons, a supplier of army biscuits that stamped its initials on its product.

(5) It comes from Aux Cayes, already discussed. A variant is that it comes from the French au quai, "to the dock," said of cotton that had been approved for loading on a ship.

(6) It stands for Obediah Kelly, a railroad freight agent, who used to mark his initials on documents to indicate all was in order.

(7) It comes from the Greek Olla Kalla, "all good."

(8) A German general who fought on the side of the Americans in the Revolutionary War used to sign documents OK for Ober-Kommando.

There are dozens of other interpretations, all equally knuckleheaded. Pay them no mind. If Professor Read says OK = oll korrect, that's good enough for me.

Answer 2

About the history of O.K.: Allen Walker Read did definitively
establish the source of O.K. as Old Kinderhook, from the campaign
of Martin Van Buren; but then his arch-enemy, a dictionary editor,
came up with an attestation that pre-dated the campaign. Read
then definitively established the source as "oll korrect", with
an attestation a few months earlier in the same year as the
arch-enemy's -- March, 1839. Read discusses the debate with
some passion in a New Yorker profile of Sept. 4, 1989. He also
discusses the matter briefly in his LACUS presidential address,
LACUS 14:5-17 (1988). He strongly disapproves of other suggestions,
including those from African language(s) and/or Native American
language(s). But if -- as he claims -- his 1839 attestation of
O.K. is the earliest, his oll korrect etymology would be hard to
impeach. (Both the odd spelling of the phrase and the abbreviation
to O.K., not to mention the meaning, are accounted for convincingly
in the context of the times -- apparently newspapers were full of
such cute-isms. The same can't be said of the Old Kinderhook
etymology.)

Answer 3

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


OK has many meanings, the most common of which is an affirmative command with unknown origins.


OK can mean:

The expression "okay" in the English language and other languages.
The U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of Oklahoma
The IATA airline designator for Czech Airlines
An alternate reference to the international convenience store chain Circle K
The Kosher symbol of OK Kosher Certification
The International OK Dinghy, a single handed racing dinghy
OK! magazine, a British celebrity magazine

Answer 4

The oldest written references to 'OK' result from its adoption as a slogan by the Democratic party during the American Presidential election of 1840. Their candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was nicknamed 'Old Kinderhook' (after his birthplace in New York State), and his supporters formed the 'OK Club'.
other theory with at least a degree of plausibility is that the term originated among Black slaves of West African origin, and represents a word meaning 'all right, yes indeed' in various West African languages. Unfortunately, historical evidence enabling the origin of this expression to be finally and firmly established may be hard to unearth.

Answer 5

Okay is a term of approval or assent, often written as OK, O.K., ok, okay, or more informally as simply kay, k or kk. When used to describe the quality of a thing, it denotes acceptability. However, its usage can also be strongly approving; as with most slang, its usage is determined by context.

The word "okay" is currently the single-most-used word on Earth, owing to its common employment in a vast number of cultures and languages.

There are several theories about the origins of this word, some of them apocryphal and none of them conclusive, although the suggested origin as an initialism of oll korrect has relatively widespread support. Whatever its origin, the word spread around the world, the "okay" spelling of it first appearing in British writing in the 1860s. Spelled out in full in the 20th century, 'okay' has come to be in everyday use among English speakers, and borrowed by non-English speakers. Occasionally a humorous form okey dokey is used, as well as A-ok.

Answer 6

the term "OK" was coined by a news company long ago when a president would retreat to a ranch with the initials "OK". the news team would then say, "well everything seems to be OK" and it ran as a pun for a long time until it started just being used in common language. my history is full of holes but if you research it you will see that its basically the right answer without any of the super detailed facts, like what OK stood for and what president and what news team blah blah blah

Answer 7

Actually ok by itself doesnt mean anything. When boxers used to fight, there used to be KnockOuts, which used to be called as KO. When a a boxer wasnt knocked out in a fight, they started callin it OK, opposite of KO. So, ok came to mean alright/not down yet. That's the origin of OK, ok?

Answer 8

Everyone has answered it. Thx 4 the 2 points!

Answer 9

I heard it had something to do with shipping and receiving and they wrote "au quay" which literally translated meant to the dock, meaning the cargo passed inspection and could be taken off the ship.

Answer 10

i heard that it started during WWI, when they had a battle, and the troop had no losses, they showed this "0 Killed" signal that turned into a "0 K".... like everything was fine.