2006-10-18 09:23:10 · 15 answers · asked by I-C-U 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The historical record shows that "O.K." appeared as an abbreviation for oll korrect (a conscious misspelling of "all correct") in Boston newspapers in 1839, and was reinterpreted as "Old Kinderhook" in the 1840 United States presidential election. Because it is a recent word borne of word play, and because it is so widely used, "O.K." has also invited many folk etymologies. These competing theories are not supported by the historical written record, except in that folk and joke etymologies influenced the true history of the word. Since the 19th century, the word has 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.
According to languagemonitor.com, "O.K." is the Most Frequently Spoken Word on the Planet.
2006-10-18 14:49:42 · answer #1 · answered by * adri * 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its origin has been traced to the phrase "oll korrect" (purposely misspelled) used in Boston newspapers in 1839. It was kind of the fad of the day to take misspelled phrases and make acronyms out of them, just like today it's the fad to put a z on the end of everything.
2006-10-18 09:33:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The historical record shows that "O.K." appeared as an abbreviation for oll korrect (a conscious misspelling of "all correct") in Boston newspapers in 1839.
2006-10-18 09:33:28 · answer #3 · answered by Paul A 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nothing. Somehow, OK or 'okay' has arisen as a short form of agreement. The etymology is obscure.
2006-10-18 09:26:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's short for "okay"
Or, if its "OK" then it might be an abbreviation for Oklahoma. It just depends on what context it's used.
2006-10-18 09:25:24 · answer #5 · answered by moonie 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
okey
It was first used by the military to say 0 killed
2006-10-18 10:59:35 · answer #6 · answered by Alej 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cero killed , it was used during the war
2006-10-18 11:08:18 · answer #7 · answered by margarita v 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
okay
2006-10-18 13:10:15 · answer #8 · answered by pinkygirl m 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
okay
2006-10-18 09:25:07 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
okay
2006-10-18 09:24:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋