What is the difference between 'Okay' & 'OK'?

Question

How do you decide to use each in communications?

Answer 1

The term origininated with Martin Van Buren (the 8th US President.) He was born at a town called "Kinderhook", NY and earned a nickname: "Old Kinderhook." He liked that moniker, and while a practicing attorney, he would initial business documents with "OK" meaning that he had approved them. As he rose from lawyer, to politician, the "OK" stamp followed him.
When running for the US Presidency, his local fund-raisers and political supporters set up "OK clubs" around the country. The correct term had always been "OK". However, as the English language was morphing into our peculiar American accent, and the written word was becoming standardized, newspaper editors didn't want this to be pronounced "Oak" or something, so to make the pronunciation correct early American newspapers always wrote it as "OKay".
So the real difference is whether it is used as a "stamp" of approval--where OK is acceptable, or whether it is intended to be read aloud where "Okay" is now considered, well, okay!

Answer 2

In English okay may be used as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, and interjection. When used as a noun, the word signifies someone's approval, such as, "Make sure you get the teacher's okay on that topic." The verb has a similar function, such as, "I okay that topic." As an interjection it can take the place of "all right" or similar words or phrases. As an adjective, it can be used : "That sandwich was okay". As a adverb, it can be: "We ran okay today".

Whether this word is printed as OK, okay, or O.K. is a matter normally resolved in the style manual for the publication involved. Common style guides: Chicago, New York Times, etc., provide no consensus nor do dictionaries. The Associated Press Stylebook recommends the spellings "OK, OKd OKing, OKs" and states "do not use [the spelling] okay."




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.”

Answer 3

I remember it vaguely. In 19th or 20th century. there was a General called Old Keokak. He used to approve of the proposals put forward to him, be it military or administrative. So, to know whether a proposal put forward had his consent, the officers used to ask 'Is it OKed'? In course of time, it came to be used as 'okayed'. The correct word is OK only. The second version is -- Andrew Jackson, the American President (1829-37), used the phrase, and that in the presidential campaign his political opponents said that he had derived it from his own uneducated spelling: 'Orl Korect'. The expression derived its popularity owing to its shortness and ease in pronunciation when compared to All Right, That's all right etc.

Answer 4

OK is the short form of Okay.

Both are pronounced the same - and so you do not need to think about which one you should use when communicating coz it's really the same.

But, if for any reason, you need to use the word in formal writing- use "okay" coz we do not use short forms when we write formal things.

Use the short form when you are writing a friendly message or email or something like that.

Answer 5

Actually, O.K. is the original spelling/version of the term. It first morphed into "Okay" in the UK. Today, there is no right or wrong way to write the term. It is univerally acknowledged in whatever form it appears.

Answer 6

O.K. was intended as a misspelling of "all correct". Long time ago it came about with with degraded spelling such as "Oll Korrect" or even "Ole Kurreck".

I don't think it matters much unless you are a publisher of some international publishing house.

Answer 7

Okay is the way it is spelled, ok is just a short version of okay

Answer 8

They are both slang expressions that started in 1840 in America. They are spelled differently but there is not any real difference... they may be used interchangeably

Answer 9

I would use Okay in formal communications, like for business or work. Also, in term papers and stuff like that

OK is less informal, like email to friends.

Got it? OK, good.

Answer 10

No difference, they are simply alternative, equally correct spellings for the same expression.