Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see OK and Okay (disambiguation).

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.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_250.html