What does O.K. mean and where does it come from?

Answer 1

It means "not good", "I don't agree", "not approved", "ain't fine by me" on opposite day, and it came from the well of bees.

Lesson: Don't stir the pot of honey when there's a stinger inside and the guests are waiting for PB&J&H sandwiches.

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.

Answer 3

Originated in Boston and New York City around 1839 as part of a slang fad (reminiscent of Cockney rhyming slang and Russian padonki slang) where phrases were deliberately misspelt and then reduced to abbreviations. The word okay was the abbreviation OK for "oll korrect". OK is the only term of that era to have become a permanent part of the language. Others were "O.W." (for "oll write") and "K.Y." (for "know yuse"). The first known use of O.K. in print was on March 23, 1839 in the Boston Morning Post.

Answer 4

Okay is a term of approval, assent, or acknowledgment, often written as OK or O.K.. This is also known as AOK. 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.

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.

Answer 5

"Okay" is the written phonetic of the initials OK, used to denote the state of Oklahoma.

In the 1800s, after the California Gold Rush had largely died out, many pioneers only ever travelled half way across the continent of North America, settling in Oklahoma where mineral extraction was set to take off.

Because of the great wealth promised by this, natives of Oklahoma began boasting about their state as the greatest place to live. This would be emphasised by shouting "We're OK!", as in "We're Oklahomans!" or "Everyone is OK!".

Answer 6

Two answers (at least):
1. It was Andrew Jackson's abbreviation for "oll korrect."
2. It comes from "okeh," a word in a West African language meaning about what it means to us. (Many other American English terms of mystifying origin seem to have been imported from West Africa.)

Answer 7

In the 16th century when British warships came back from battle they had "warning flags" that had to be hiosted up when they entered harbour to warn the medics of how many bodies were on board. Eg. 23 K = 23 Killed, 45 K = 45 Killed ==> 0 K = O Killed, Later it just became ok and not zero k.

Answer 8

OK short for
Okiie Dokie

Answer 9

I can only alliterate this but in North Africa `Wa Ka' Meaning `O. K.' seems to predate it's use in English, can anybody confirm this?

Answer 10

Maybe you know what it means! Various theories, I prefer the "Orl Kerekt" origin.