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2006-08-14 23:06:21 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference Words & Wordplay

9 answers

Okay. From www.dictionary.com: Word History: OK is a quintessentially American term that has spread from English to many other languages. Its origin was the subject of scholarly debate for many years until Allen Walker Read showed that OK is based on a joke of sorts. OK is first recorded in 1839 but was probably in circulation before that date. During the 1830s there was a humoristic fashion in Boston newspapers to reduce a phrase to initials and supply an explanation in parentheses. Sometimes the abbreviations were misspelled to add to the humor. OK was used in March 1839 as an abbreviation for all correct, the joke being that neither the O nor the K was correct. Originally spelled with periods, this term outlived most similar abbreviations owing to its use in President Martin Van Buren's 1840 campaign for reelection. Because he was born in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and the abbreviation proved eminently suitable for political slogans. That same year, an editorial referring to the receipt of a pin with the slogan O.K. had this comment: “frightful letters... significant of the birth-place of Martin Van Buren, old Kinderhook, as also the rallying word of the Democracy of the late election, ‘all correct’.... Those who wear them should bear in mind that it will require their most strenuous exertions... to make all things O.K.”

2006-08-14 23:11:40 · answer #1 · answered by mytreacheryiseternal 4 · 2 0

ditto on the earlier answers about "oll korrect", Martin Van Buren and Choctaw language. And there's a little more history here

OK dates from 1839, only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (cf. K.G. for "no go," as if spelled "know go"); in this case, "oll korrect."

Further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc.

The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932.

2006-08-14 23:31:18 · answer #2 · answered by maî 6 · 0 0

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 okee dokee (or okey dokey) is used, as well as A-ok.

2006-08-14 23:11:55 · answer #3 · answered by Physh 4 · 0 0

What Is Ok Short For

2016-11-07 06:53:26 · answer #4 · answered by sturms 4 · 0 0

There are lots of opinions about this. My favorite is that President Andrew Jackson started it. He was barely able to read and right. When he was asked to approve something in writing, he put O. K. on the paper. It was his abbreviation for Oll Korect (all correct).

2006-08-14 23:13:12 · answer #5 · answered by regerugged 7 · 0 0

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/Qxpf9

Oll Korrect, a "facetious alteration" of all correct

2016-03-28 00:31:16 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

doesn't mention any specific origins etc. in the dictionary... it's short for okay, but the abbrieviation probably comes from o -ke (language-Djabo), o-keh (language-Mandigo), waw kay (language-Walaf): which all mean the similar meaning.

2006-08-14 23:14:19 · answer #7 · answered by trishashastri 3 · 0 0

okay just for lazy people who like to do ok

2006-08-14 23:10:41 · answer #8 · answered by BEEFSHIELD 3 · 0 0

okay

2006-08-15 02:42:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

okay

2006-08-14 23:09:47 · answer #10 · answered by Princess 4 · 0 0

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