Hint:: if you live in the northeast...you might know this.
2007-05-10 06:07:03 · 10 answers · asked by gianinni 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Trivia
One story I've heard said that it was shorthand for Old Kinderhook, a nickname for Martin Van Buren (or one of the early US Presidents)
2007-05-10 06:16:33 · answer #1 · answered by icysapphire64 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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."
2007-05-10 13:15:13 · answer #2 · answered by banananose_89117 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if this is true or not but I heard a long long time ago...that there was this Indian chief when North America was very young, that was a very honest, and true to his word kind of guy...he lead his people with firm hands, but was very fair. I can't remember his real name it was like OKiacutte or something like that. It got so that his name was known all over the land by the govt officials as well as the Native folks. So if this chief put his "OK" on a project or plan then it was definitely true and good. If I am wrong...well then it still makes a good story.
2007-05-10 13:17:02 · answer #3 · answered by wahoo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One is that it comes from the Choctaw word OKEH which means ''it is so''--and was picked up by Andrew Jackson or someone near him during the Creek War in 1815.
Another is that it comes from the Scotish expression Achh ! Aye ! which resembles the pronunciation of ''okay''.
2007-05-10 13:13:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
OK means Zero Killed. That term was first used during the civil war.
2007-05-10 13:16:02 · answer #5 · answered by chetblong 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From Oll Korrect. Read about it in a dictionary with derivations.
2007-05-11 23:36:30 · answer #6 · answered by fatboycool 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it comes from Ok which means One Kiss =)
2007-05-10 13:11:05 · answer #7 · answered by Dia 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Its the abbreviation of All correct.
2007-05-10 13:15:29 · answer #8 · answered by mickjack 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Choctaw word "okeh (or "hoke") meaning "indeed" or "it is so. ...or...
O.K. stands for "all correct" or the illiterate phrase "orl Korrect"
O.K.?
2007-05-10 13:20:59 · answer #9 · answered by azure skye 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
O.K. - otis kinderman
OK- All Korrect
2007-05-10 13:09:33 · answer #10 · answered by crispy_corn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋