What does OK actually mean?

Answer 1

Short answer -- it was a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect", first used in 1838 in a Boston newspaper. It spread when Martin VanBuren's presidential re-election campaign played off the term and his nickname "Old Kinderhook" (for his birthplace, Kinderhook, New York), creating "OK" clubs of his supporters.

----------------

Details:

The wikipedia article WildOtter cites is helpful, but it doesn't look like she read it! Though VanBuren (or rather his candidacy) had something to do with how people became familiar with "OK", he was not, in any sense, the originator of this term!

There are many explanations still bouncing around (some of them guesses, some of them were simply made up), but as a matter of fact, the question was decisively answered by Columbia University professor Allen Walker Read over 40 years ago in a series of articles.

"OK" was invented as a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the midst of a popular fad for such abbreviations, which began to appear in Boston newspapers ca. 1838 (then spread across the nation). "OK" first appeared in newsprint in 1839 and was, like many other expressions of the time, very popular.

But this one outlived them all BECAUSE of "Old Kinderhook", the nickname for U.S. Vice President Martin VanBuren, who was running for President in 1840.

(The name comes from the fact that his hometown was Kinderhook, New York. I don't have the documentation, but I believe "OLD Kinderhook" may have been coined by analogy with then President Andrew Jackson's nickname "Old Hickory." or other nicknames of this pattern which were popular in the first half 19th century.)

At any rate, supporters of "Old Kinderhook" decided to play off the newly popular expression, and formed "OK Clubs" to support him. The widespread use in the political campaign across the country established this abbreviation, which people discovered was rather handy, so it stuck.

So, two of the common explanations for the term are... 'OK'. The third most common explanation offered -- that Andrew Jackson, not the best of spellers, actually wrote the notation "OK" on papers, intending to mark them as "all correct". This explanation (and others) was the invention of Jackson critics, their response to the VanBuren campaign.

(The ORDER is important -- first the humorous coinage, THEN the VanBuren campaign. Reed documented the usage of this and other humorous abbreviations... AND there is no record of the abbreviation being used BEFORE that time.)

Answer 2

I have to respond to this question because there is an interesting synchronisty - you asking the question and me mulling over the question yesterday. I was reading a thoroughly 'must read' book, "The Gangs of New York", Herbert Ashbury - you might remember the film which was based on it, not that long ago, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. At the back there is a glossary of words used by the criminal classes of the time. Many of these terms were imported from England. One such term is, 'Oll kerect', meaning 'all right'. Perhaps this a good clue and might help your search. Good luck !

Answer 3

OK has many meanings, the most common of which is an expression of agreement or approval.


OK can mean:


* Okay in the English language and other languages
* Oklahoma (United States postal abbreviations)
* Czech Airlines (IATA airline designator)
* OK Kosher Certification
* The International OK Dinghy, a single handed racing dinghy
* OK! magazine, a British celebrity magazine

Answer 4

Origin: initials of a facetious folk phonetic spelling, e.g., oll or orl korrect representing all correct, first attested in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1839, then used in 1840 by Democrat partisans of Martin Van Buren during his election campaign, who allegedly named their organization, the O.K. Club, in allusion to the initials of Old Kinderhook, Van Buren's nickname, derived from his birthplace Kinderhook, New York

Answer 5

You have got many explanations, but here's a bit of interesting info on use of OK. Maybe you can ponder over what it means.
Actually, this usage has been mentioned to me by a friend from India. Neither of us is able to fathom its meaning!
He says that on the rear bumper of commercial trucks plying on roads, the most common words painted are:
HORN OK PLEASE.
How can you beat that?

Answer 6

A friend of mine (English teacher) told me she read 'somewhere' that it started with a German immigrant working in America. He had to check the boxes with goods and when they were to his satisfaction he would write OK on them - meaning all correct. As he couldn't spell yet properly he thought it was 'oll korrekt'.

Answer 7

****, i dont understand some of the responses you have received but thats OK. Good luck picking the best

Answer 8

8th president of the United States, Martin Van Buren was the word's originator. Van Buren, a native of Kinderhook, New York was nicknamed, "Old Kinderhook." Van Buren was said to have printed "O.K." on documents as a short-hand signature and to signal presidential approval. The term gained wide-usage during the 1840 United States presidential election. Thenceforth "O.K." became used as a measure of approval.

Answer 9

It means 'All Clear'. That was the origin of the abbreviation OK.

Answer 10

informal as an exclamation --all right okey-dokey---righto adjective--all right ,acceptable,not bad,unremarkable-----fine ,in good shape ---allowable, noun--- approval, agreement, consent, thumbs up verb-----authorise, consent to, rubber stamp opposite is to refuse or veto