Word History: 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.”

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.

OK

OK has many meanings, the most common of which is an affirmative command with unknown origins.

OK can mean:

The expression “okay” in the English language and other languages.

The U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of Oklahoma

The IATA airline designator for Czech Airlines

An alternate reference to the international convenience store chain Circle K

The International OK Dinghy, a single handed racing dinghy

OK! magazine, a British celebrity magazine

The history (if not the spelling!) of the term OK is largely debated. Some claim its derivation from the Chocktaw affirmative okeh, the Greek ola kalla, the Latin hoc ille — all historically verifiable usages — amongst others. It is argued that the cause of the success of the term in the US (regardless of its origin) is due to a fad of using initialisms during the 1830s and ’40s. This fad of initialisms (eg: “TGIF”, “FYI”, “DIY”) even went so far as generating letter combinations of intentional misspellings; popular ones were: “K.G.,” for “know go,” “K.Y.,” for “know yuse,” and “O.W.,” for “oll write”. “O.K.” naturally followed, standing for “oll korrect”. “O.K.” is the only one that survived through the years, thanks perhaps to the precedence of the aforementioned affirmatives, but more certainly to the sloganeering during the presidential election campaign of Martin Van Buren. Born in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren was nicknamed “Old Kinderhook” — echoing the “oll korrect” initialism — early in his political career. “O.K.” became the rallying cry of the Old Kinderhook Club, a political organization supporting Van Buren during the 1840 campaign. H. L. Mencken would later describe the term as “the most shining and sucessful Americanism ever invented.” It is arguably the most popular as well, uttered in several foreign languages.

[Some information on history taken from Prentice Hall Literature, Timeless voices, Timeless Themes. The American Experience.

Source(s):

http://www.answers.com/topic/ok?method=2…

It was reinforced by Marin Van Buren’s run for president, where he was referred as “Old Kinderhook”, or O.K.

Great Wikipedia entry on all the various etymologies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay#Etymology:_.22Oll_Korrect.22_and_.22Old_Kinderhook.22

(It appears that the Greek reference named above was actually subsequent to the other American uses).

Main Entry: 1OK

Variant(s): or okay \ō-‘kā, in assenting or agreeing also ‘ō-,kā\

Function: adverb or adjective

Etymology: abbreviation of oll korrect, facetious alteration of all correct

Date: 1839

Ok… haha sorry. so in like the 1800’s, they would say “all correct” and eventually it got down to “oll korrect”. It was a joke, like the guy before me said. so they turned it into OK to shorten it.

hope i helped!

It comes from the Greek ”Ola Kala”. Which means everything’s fine.