OK can anyone tell me what OK is short for??

Question

I really don't know do you?

Answer 1

I'm with the "orl korrekt" brigade. Apparently Henry Ford, when asked to give a reference, would write it up and then, if he really meant what he'd said, would write "OK" on the back for "all correct". Without the OK, it wasn't OK.

Answer 2

I’ve heard that comes from the Greek expression ola kala which means everything is well.

Ive also found out it started as a comical abbreviation during a fad in New England in the 1830s. Others were OW (oll wright), KY (know yuse, or no use), and NS ('nuff said). OK caught on permanently when political supporters of Martin Van Buren - whose nickname was Old Kinderhook - turned it into a pun and popularised it in his successful 1840 presidential campaign. After the origin of the phrase had puzzled people for years, Professor Allen Walker Read pulled off one of the great coups of etymology when he tracked this down in the 1960s.

After looking it up there seems to be varied suggestions to where it comes from.

Answer 3

OK is short for okay. It is actually O.K. coming from orl korrect (meaning all correct in old, jocular english). It was also popular the initials of Old Kinderhook a nick name for President Martin Van Buren used in his election campaign in 1840.

Answer 4

There have been numerous attempts to explain the emergence of this curious colloquial expression, which seems to have swept into popular use in the US during the mid-19th century. Most of them are undoubtedly pure speculation. It does not seem at all likely, from the linguistic and historical evidence, that it derives from the Scots expression 'och aye', the Greek ola kala ('it is good'), the Choctaw Indian oke or okeh ('it is so'), the French aux Cayes ('from Cayes', a port in Haiti with a reputation for good rum) or au quai ('to the quay', as supposedly used by French-speaking dockers), or the initials of a railway freight agent called Obediah Kelly who is said to have written them on lading documents he had checked.

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'.

This undoubtedly helped to popularize the term (though it did not get President Van Buren re-elected!). During the late 1830s there had been a brief but widespread craze in the US for humorous misspellings, and the form orl korrekt which was among them could explain the initials 'OK'. Such a theory has been supported by more than one distinguished American scholar, and is given in many dictionaries, including Oxford dictionaries.

The only 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

All of the above OK?

Answer 6

Okay

Answer 7

okay.... but love the other answers u got!

Answer 8

yeah its short for okay ....

Answer 9

Okay, or even all right.

Answer 10

okey dokey!! x