The origin of OK

[formariz 11,987]

Such a frequently used expression and never thought about it. A little embarrassed to say but I learned about its origins here. Can any one confirm what I heard?

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

Sumpin about Oklahoma and politics, I think.

[Ed Kennell 38,182]

From the Greek...Ola Kala     all is well

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

O.K, so what I heard was it’s origins are In dispute… OK? 

 

K?

 

Okay?

 

[953 nut 55,262]

            I had to cheat and do a   search to come up with it.       I will hold off for a while to post the answer if that is OK with you.     

[WHX?? 48,821]

Is this the word of the day? 

I got a couple of zingers.... 

Ooookkkkk 'nut is a cheater... or smarter... 

[953 nut 55,262]

Happy 183rd birthday of the term, OK

 

Bleary-eyed readers scanning page two of the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, may have barely noticed the linguistic oddity buried in the blizzard of ink in the second column. At the end of a short, throwaway item taking sarcastic jabs at a Providence newspaper stood the abbreviation “o.k.” next to the words “all correct.” Much like the modern-day world filled with text-friendly shortcuts such as LOL and OMG, an abbreviation craze swept nineteenth-century America, although with a twist. In an attempt at humor, young, educated elites deliberately misspelled words and abbreviated them for slang. For example, “KG” stood for “know go,” the incorrect spelling of “no go.” The joke is lost on us today, but it was LOL funny in the 1800s.

So when “o.k.” appeared in print, it was intended to be the shortening of “oll korrect,” the humorous misspelling of “all correct.” According to Allan Metcalf, author of OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, Boston Morning Post editor Charles Gordon Greene, who often wrote witticisms and took shots at other broadsheets in print, was likely the author of the attack on the Providence newspaper and thus the man who gave birth to OK.

OK reappeared in another Boston Morning Post article three days later, and it very slowly seeped into the American vernacular during 1839. By the end of the year, it had showed up in the Boston Evening Transcript, New York Evening Tattler and the Philadelphia Gazette. The spotlight of the following year’s presidential campaign, however, set OK on the path to linguistic stardom.

Now;   for extra credit tell us who were the presidential candidates in 1840 and who used the term OK in their campaign?

Edited March 25, 2022 by 953 nut

[JoeM 7,874]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

Happy 183rd birthday of the term, OK

 

Bleary-eyed readers scanning page two of the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, may have barely noticed the linguistic oddity buried in the blizzard of ink in the second column. At the end of a short, throwaway item taking sarcastic jabs at a Providence newspaper stood the abbreviation “o.k.” next to the words “all correct.” Much like the modern-day world filled with text-friendly shortcuts such as LOL and OMG, an abbreviation craze swept nineteenth-century America, although with a twist. In an attempt at humor, young, educated elites deliberately misspelled words and abbreviated them for slang. For example, “KG” stood for “know go,” the incorrect spelling of “no go.” The joke is lost on us today, but it was LOL funny in the 1800s.

So when “o.k.” appeared in print, it was intended to be the shortening of “oll korrect,” the humorous misspelling of “all correct.” According to Allan Metcalf, author of OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, Boston Morning Post editor Charles Gordon Greene, who often wrote witticisms and took shots at other broadsheets in print, was likely the author of the attack on the Providence newspaper and thus the man who gave birth to OK.

OK reappeared in another Boston Morning Post article three days later, and it very slowly seeped into the American vernacular during 1839. By the end of the year, it had showed up in the Boston Evening Transcript, New York Evening Tattler and the Philadelphia Gazette. The spotlight of the following year’s presidential campaign, however, set OK on the path to linguistic stardom.

 

Has this information been fact checked? 

 

[953 nut 55,262]

3 minutes ago, JoeM said:

 

Has this information been fact checked? 

 

[rjg854 11,368]

OK,  Who fact checks the fact checkers 

Edited March 25, 2022 by rjg854
add

[953 nut 55,262]

3 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

OK,  Who fact checks the fact checkers 

In this case there isn't anyone remaining from 1839 to confirm or deny the information and the term "Urban Legend" hadn't yet been coined  ( may need to fact check that) so I guess it is a fact.   

[stevasaurus 22,747]

And I always thought it was short for Okey-Dokey.  

[Pullstart 62,902]

So if someone asks how I’m doing and I say “pretty ok,” that means I’m all correct?  I might have to stick with “pretty alright,” but I guess all correct and all right are about the same, so I’m proclaiming that I’m right.  I’ll have to remember that in a heated discussion 

[WHX?? 48,821]

8 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

 I’m all correct?  “pretty alright,” so I’m proclaiming that I’m right. 

OK ... I beg to differ..... Just... Ain't .....Right..... 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,577]

4 hours ago, JoeM said:

 

Has this information been fact checked? 

 

Must be true… found it on the inner googling  web… 

 

Or was that on Hunter’s laptop…?

 

Same fact checkers I’m guessing… 

[Ed Kennell 38,182]

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

 

I think the internet is wrong Ed!  I'm sure it was Lincoln!

 

 

The statement below is true,

The statement above is false.

 

 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

[Ed Kennell 38,182]

5 hours ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Or was that on Hunter’s laptop…?

[Ed Kennell 38,182]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

I'm sure it was Lincoln!

 

Abe may have said it.....but Georgie was first.