OK. So where did the expression OK come from?

Question

Now I have just read a claim that the expression OK came from the Ford production line. That the inspector was a Swede called Oskar Karlsson. Oskar would check the cars then if they were up to standard would write his initials OK on the windscreen.
Hence the expression "has it been okeyed"
Enlighten me please?

Answer 1

One of the most widely accepted origins is that OK stands for oll (or orl) korrect - 'a factitious early 19th century American phonetic spelling of all correct,' according to the Encarta Dictionary. It was favoured by President Andrew Jackson, who used it when he was a court clerk in Tennessee to mark up legal documents. This use was first printed in 1939, in the Boston Morning Post.

Answer 2

Well, I'll tell you--------this explanation sounds just about as good as a number of others I've read and heard.

But my understanding is that the etymology or derivation of "OK" is simply not known. Or at least not know, beyond any shadow of a doubt.

Check out this link; there are a number of highly plausible theories presented here: http://www.miketodd.net/encyc/okay.htm

The Oskar Karlsson story sounds very convincing, but apparently the term "okay/OK" was in use far before the Ford production line was....................so, back to the drawing boards!

Answer 3

According to IdiomSite, a cheery collection of common phrases explained, the origins of "OK" remain a mystery. Strange considering it's a relatively new phrase, only coming into popularity in the mid-1800s.
While no one's sure of the origin of "OK," there are a handful of popular explanations. President Martin Van Buren ran for re-election in 1840 on the "OK" slogan, as his nickname was "Old Kinderhook." Unfortunately, his supporters, the "OK Club," failed to get their man back in the White House.

While Van Buren certainly popularized the phrase, he probably didn't come up with it. The Straight Dope claims the letters come from the phrase "Oll Korrect." The phrase comes from a curious fad for "comical abbreviations" that swept the country in the 1830s and 1840s.

The estimable Oxford Dictionary concurs, while also noting that the term has several foreign equivalents: the Scots "och aye," the Greek "ola kala," the Choctaw Indian "Oke." Word Origins adds that "OK" is the most successful American phrase ever, having spread across the globe by the early 20th century.

here is something i checked up for this topic

Answer 4

Okay is a term of approval or assent, often written as OK, O.K., ok, okay, okee, okey, okie, okey day or more informally as simply kay or k. Sometimes used with other words, as in "okey, dokey". 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. It could be one of the most widely used words on Earth, since it has spread from English to many other 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 born 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 okey dokey (or okey doke) is used, as well as A-ok.

Answer 5

Not wanting to put a damper on the Ford Corporation's supremacy but it may have come from the abbreviation of Orrin Kendall biscuits, which soldiers ate during the American civil war. Or perhaps OK is short for Aux Cayes, a Haitian port that American sailors praised for its rum. Another legend suggests the word comes from Old Keokuk, a Native American tribal chief who was said to have signed treaties with his initials.

A fairly comprehensive coverage of this question can be found at http://www.yaelf.com/questions.shtml.

Answer 6

It is spelled okay officially. It might have come from Oll Korrect, or Old Kinderhook. The first printed examples of O.K. can be found in the Boston newspapers of 1839. O.K. was intended as a misspelling of "all correct"; in the first few years it was often published with this gloss. The gloss was sometimes varied with degraded spelling such as "Oll Korrect" or even "Ole Kurreck". Deliberate word play was associated with the acronym fad and was a yet broader contemporary American fad. In this first phase, O.K. was spread with the acronym fad from Boston to other American cities.

Answer 7

That story is apocryphal. I've read many explanations for where OK came from, but the BEST one I've heard, which is probably true, is this: it stands for "oll korrect," a 19th century joke spelling that caught on and was abbreviated as OK. It's funny that everybody says it all the time and nobody knows where it came from.

OK = Oll Korrect

Answer 8

You may ask why then was it in the Boston newspaper misspelt?? Well apparently there was a very highly ranked Naval Inspector, who though was great at his job, was really bad at spelling. So when he did his inspections and wrote down what he thought were the initials of the words "all correct", no-one dared to correct him, and it became common practice. I wish I could tell you his name, but I've forgotten it, and my resources are at my parent's house sorry.

Answer 9

According to Wikipedia, and I quote:
"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."

Answer 10

There can be no more universal term that Okay. It is used in just about every language in the world, and its use is probably even more widespread than Coca-Cola. Yet nobody really knows for sure where it originated. In fact, just as there can be no more universal term, there can also be no more controversial when it comes to determining its origin.