What are the origins of the word "Okay" (ok)?
2009-11-15 11:55AM / 標準BLOG
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1839,
only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations
of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (cf. K.G. for "no
go," as if spelled "know go"); in this case, "oll
korrect." Further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K.
Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840
re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in
the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because
it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc.
The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by
Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is
so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted
quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student
slang first attested 1932. Greek immigrants to America who returned home early
20c. having picked up U.S. speech mannerisms were known in Greece as okay-boys,
among other things.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term…
H.L. Mencken once described "O.K." as
"the most successful of Americanisms," an estimation verified by U.S.
troops during the Second World War, who reported encountering the phrase all
over the world. Of all the scores of theories (and sub-theories) as to the
origin of "O.K.," the most widely heard traces "O.K." to
the "O.K. Club," a political committee supporting Martin Van Buren's
unsuccessful bid for the Presidency in 1840. The "O.K.," it is said,
was short for "Old Kinderhook," Van Buren's nickname.
It appears that this theory is not so much wrong
(the "O.K. Club" certainly existed) as it is incomplete. Chances are
good the Van Buren's partisans would never have named their club
"O.K." had the phrase not already been widely known as an
abbreviation of "oll korrect," a humorous misspelling of "all
correct." American speech in the early 1800s was awash in similar
abbreviations, two of which, "N.G." ("no good") and
"P.D.Q." ("Pretty Damn Quick"),
are still heard today.
Ironically, while "O.K." didn't save Van
Buren's campaign, the campaign gave "O.K." a new lease on life --
until then, it had never been as popular as a competing phrase,
"O.W." (for "oll wright"). (By the way, before we start
feeling too superior to the cornball 1800s, is "oll wright" really
any worse than the "excuuuse me!" or "not!" fads of a few
years ago?).
http://www.word-detective.com/back-q.htm…
From Yahoo.com Nov, 15 2009.
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