Who has invented O.K. ?

Question

Wat is the origin of the word O.K ?
Wat does it realy means.?

Answer 1

Hey, u've asked a very good question bcoz not many people know about this :

This word is used in different forms: OK, Ok, Okay and O.K, being the form with periods the way it started.

I have found three different explanations of its origin:

-It was used in the 1830s in a Boston newspaper as a joke. There was an humoristic fashion to reduce a phrase to initials, and sometimes the abbreviations were mispelled to add more humor. Someone used O.K. for "all correct" (oll korrect).

-The previous explanation is connected with my favorite one, that says that during the Civil War, when batallions returned from the front, the first man in line carried a sign with the number of soldiers killed in action in that group. So the signs stated "9 Killed", "5 killed" and so on. If the number was zero, they stated "O K", a perfect mark.

-The last one (somehow connected too), tells that during the glorious days of the telegraph, there was a man named Oscar Kent, who never commited mistakes in his transmissions. Then, if the telegraph message was signed "O.K." all was correct.

Additionally, in German the expression "Ohne Korrekten" means "without correction" and in Greek "Ola Kala" means "everything's fine".

Answer 2

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

The theory that is widely recognised by most dictionaries is that 'OK' is an abbreviation for 'oll korrect', a humorous play on the words 'all correct'. In the early 19th Century, newspapers did not just feature serious news; they also had lots of humour and fiction. Humourists liked to deliberately misspell words. For example, they would spell words like 'no' as 'know'. It was also a fad back then to use abbreviations. So a misspelled 'oll wright' (all right) could become 'OW'. And the first known printing of the word 'OK' was in the newspaper the Boston Morning Post on 23 March, 1839, in this context: 'He of the Journal, and his train-band, would have the "contributions box", et ceteras, o.k. - all correct - and cause the corks to fly.' And thus, it is assumed that 'OK' was a play on the words 'all correct'.

Answer 4

Okay

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay

Answer 5

I did !! :D

Anyways, nice question. I have some links for this.

The theory that is widely recognised by most dictionaries is that 'OK' is an abbreviation for 'oll korrect', a humorous play on the words 'all correct'.

See sources for links.

Answer 6

i just used OK answering to another question just a few minutes ago, and had the same questions in my mind :)

Answer 7

it means between good and bad

Answer 8

u dont know ?tatz me......