Most common word in the world!
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Posted on August 24, 2007 · Filed Under Lessons
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The theory I heard once, was that OK was a word written a hundred years ago for Greek immigrants in the Usa in telegraphs to say Ola Kala (=All Good) and soon that word became common in telegraphs in the country.
The funny thing is, if O stands for “All”, why we often say “Everything OK”?
I’m on this thread a decade or so too late, but … what the hell …
I have a personal theory about “ok” …
I think it was orignally the scottish expression for an assertive “yes” .. i.e. “och, aye” .. as in “oh, aye” = “oh, yes”.
e.g. …
english speaker: “Do you want this barrel of beer?”
scots person: “Och, aye!!”
english speaker: “Did you say “O.K” .. does that mean “yes”?”
scots person: “Och, aye!!”
so, to non-scots persons “och, aye” sounds similar to O.K. .. maybe.
… just a thought.
What’s amazing.. is that even though it’s origin is uncertain… we still pronounce the word, paying respect to the fact that OK (modern form) comes from an abbreviation, that is O.K.
Chemikal
We don’t know the original form was an abbreviation .. we just know that when it was first written down it was assumed the verbal form was an abbreviation. (assuming it was a spoken form before it was a written form.)
plus .. i like that we’ll never really know the origin of this … to me it’s comforting that there are uncertainties and mysteries that will never be solved.
Dear Marina,
To my knowledge the word comes from the Initials of a US President candidate (later a President); the dutchmen Martin van Buren who had the nickname “Old Kinderhook”.
Maybe this in combination with the Ol Korrekt (Al Correct) story.
Besito,
Julian
I thought it comes from the initials of a senator’s name, who wanted to win the elections with the slogan “When O.K. is home, everything is all right”
Everyone knows that the French word for “yes” is “oui”. Except, in the south of France is an area called the “languedoc”. This name comes from “langue d’oc”, which means the “language of ‘oc’”. This area is so named because the word used for “yes” there is “oc”, and not “oui” as in the rest of the country. But it’s just a coincidence that it is so similar to “okay”, right?
Hi Marina,
I had often suspected that the term ‘okay’ had perhaps originated from the Plains Indians (specifically, Lakota Sioux) oath spoken before or during batlle “Ho ke hey” or “Hoka hay,” which roughly translates to “This is a good day to die!” meaning “I’m fully prepared to sacrifice my life to protect my people, honor, etc.” If you say ‘hoka hay’ quickly several times in succession you’ll see why I thought maybe the word okay was derived from this phrase. Let’s face it; humans are inherently lazy when it comes to speaking extra syllables, especially aspirated ones.
Then I did some studying on it in my linguistics class.
There was no mention of anyone connecting the Native American phrase with the word okay in modern usage.
According to what I found during internet searches and dictionary readings, the term “Okay” may have originated in the city formerly known as New Amsterdam (now New York City) when the Dutch were in the process of turning the port over to the new American landlords sometime in the late 18th century. From what I understand, there were still a lot of Dutch harbor pilots and wharf managers there during the change-over, and the American newcomers had to work closely with them to learn how the harbor was run and where the safest deep channels were, etc. This took some time. Plus, the Dutch were very careful record-keepers so everything had to be documented at every stage of completion and signed off by some responsible party. Of course, the Americans working there didn’t like having to rely on the Dutch with their strange language and customs requiring scrupulous paperwork. So they poked fun at them by parodying them. They began to sign everything “OK.” Perhaps (and I am speculating here) it may have originally represented some harbormaster’s initials, or maybe it stood for some well-used Dutch phrase, or some other unknown reason. Bottom line: one of the surviving expressions from the era became defined as an acronym for “Oll Korrect,” indicating that (add irony) even though spelled incorrectly, the work or process had been accomplished according to plan and/or on schedule.
But I like the Andrew Jackson angle. He was such a mean mother…
Okeh.
no one know’s what that means.
Zero Killed. ( strange )
Thanks to our horrible speller, Andrew Jackson.
OK is used….. a lot.
if i knew how to spell, we’d be saying AC
also known as air condtioner.
isn’t that wonderful.
wow….did I really say ” if i knew how to spell ”
ooopsie
i meant if he knew how to spell.
<E
It was OK