Where did the term OK come from?
440390
[Abbreviation of OLL KORRECT, \nslang respelling of all correct.]\n\nWORD 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.”
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The same as : Isn't it half good".\n\nMeans you're more or less ok as a person.
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O.K. - \nabbreviation of "oll korrect", alteration of "all correct" : all right. Mutilple emails (see contrib list) have indicated that the abreviation O.K. was not an english expression, they claim that the term came from the germans during the W W II, because the merchandise that they used in war was revised and stamp with a seal stating OLL KORRECT, so the abreviation for those words were O.K. \n\n\n:)\n\nhey your avatar is similar to mines! :)
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Some believe it came from the abbreviation of Orrin Kendall biscuits, which soldiers ate during the civil war. Others say OK is short for Aux Cayes, a Haitian port that American sailors praised for its rum. Another legend suggests the word comes from Old Keokuk, a Native American tribal chief who was said to have signed treaties with his initials. \n\nWhat is known is that one of the first instances of OK appearing in print was in the spring of 1839 by the Boston Morning Post: \n\nIt is hardly necessary to say to those who know Mr. Hughes, that his establishment will be found to be 'A. No. One' -- that is, O.K. -- all correct. \n\nSo if OK stands for "all correct," wouldn't it be "AC"? Not exactly, says linguist Erin McKean, who points out that the word was intentionally misspelled. Much like the way people on the Internet shorten or abbreviate words when typing, OK was misspelled on purpose. \n\n"For instance, a lot of kids online spell "cool," "k-e-w-l," says McKean, senior editor for U.S. dictionaries at Oxford Press. "They know how to spell cool, but it just looks cooler to spell it "k-e-w-l." \n\nIt was cool in certain East Coast cities in the mid-19th century to substitute OK for "all correct." McKean says it was common for people of that day to use inside lingo -- shorthand full of puns, purposeful misspellings and abbreviations. For example, they'd use "SP" for "small potatoes," or "TBFTB" for "too big for their britches." \n\nOther abbreviations faded into obscurity, but the word OK stuck around. One of the reasons it weathered time is because it got a boost from then-president Martin Van Buren. \n\nVan Buren, a native of Kinderhook, N.Y., was popularly referred to as "Old Kinderhook" -- OK for short. Van Buren's 1840 reelection campaign became so heated that the word OK was widely used and abused by both sides. \n\nIn fact, to hurt the Democratic Party, an opponent started a rumor that it was former president Andrew Jackson who created OK, as an abbreviation of "all correct." The rumor implied that the rustic Jackson was a poor speller. That explanation for OK wasn't true, either, but it did have staying power. And it helped propel the use of OK even further. \n\nSo much, in fact, that it's used all around the world today. \n\n"To talk about the larger phenomenon as OK spread across the America and given to the world -- that implies that it has multiple origins; that people accept it for a variety of reasons," says Michael Adams, a linguist and an Albright College professor. \n\nAdams says there are words like OK in many other languages. In the West African language of Wolof, "waw kay" means "yes." In Choctaw, "okeh" means "indeed." \n\nWhile there isn't any proof that any of the words gave birth to the American OK, Adams says it's possible that the many non-English phrases helped the English one stick. \n\n"The influence of Choctaw, African American speech, political speech -- all of that came together in a kind of melting pot," Adams says. "There is a sense that the newspaper started it, but all those other influences came together to make OK probably the most popular American English word." \n\nMcKean says because OK has that sense of "jauntiness and belonging," people from all over the globe want a part of it. \n\nFamed journalist H.L. Mencken wrote about it. American soldiers took it to the places they were stationed. It was even taken into space, by astronauts like John Glenn, who excitedly exclaimed as the Friendship 7 launched, that "We're all OK!" \n\n"I'm trying to think what people would have said before OK," McKean questions. "If you had to go through a day without it, could you do it? Are you going to say, "right you are,&quo
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It is used now in many places. In songs and everywhere. I think that this line came from a "tall dark handsome stranger".\n"tall dark handsome stranger" came from language\nlanguage came from man\nman came from God\nSo ultimately God made this line = "tall dark handsome stranger".
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OK \nOK has many meanings, the most common of which is an affirmative command with unknown origins.\n\nOK can mean:\n\nThe expression "okay" in the English language and other languages. \nThe U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of Oklahoma \nThe IATA airline designator for Czech Airlines \nAn alternate reference to the international convenience store chain Circle K \nThe International OK Dinghy, a single handed racing dinghy \nOK! magazine, a British celebrity magazine \n\nThe 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.\n\n\n[Some information on history taken from Prentice Hall Literature, Timeless voices, Timeless Themes. The American Experience.
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"God Bless You" came from a loonnnnggg time ago, I forget when, maybe during the Middle Ages. People once thought that when one sneezed, their soul could or would exit the body...or part of the soul left the body. So people used to say "God Bless You"
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It could either be a misspelling of OOPS or I saw OPPs as an abbreviation earlier tonight meaning OTHER PEOPLES PROPERTY!  Not sure what it meant in your experiences.
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Well English...Started from Anglo-Saxon.Some words are borrowd or adopted. Some were created by accident.
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-The expression "okay" in the English language and other languages. \n-The U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of Oklahoma \n-The IATA airline designator for Czech Airlines \n-An alternate reference to the international convenience store chain Circle K \n-The International OK Dinghy, a single handed racing dinghy \n-OK! magazine, a British celebrity magazine
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Try searching under the spelling "tickety-boo"\n\n"But some find a link with the British Army in India, suggesting it comes from the Hindi phrase tikai babu, which is translated as “it’s all right, sir”."
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When America was established therefore the term "Americans" comes in place.\nP.S. Please rate this well.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am_XfrPtleQlcdWCo.W47iXsy6IX?qid=1006050821180
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I am not sure how it became offensive. but one theory of its connotation and origin is that it stands for "fornication under consent of king" so basically back in the days of serious monarchs. the king would approve certain peoples sex. basically giving them blessing to do such an act. most cases both parties weren't exactly willing so the king was basically approving rape. but it was for some purpose that I can't remember.
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The origins of the word are explained in the transcript of a National Public Radio feature. The use of "okay" would seem to be nothing more than an alternate spelling.
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It is an idiom intended to mean "be careful, pay attention to detail"  it has morphed, in recent times, to mean many other things including "be polite".\n\nThere are several theories about it's origin, but the one I believe makes the most sense is - mind your Pints and Quarts.  Meaning to keep track of what you order in a pup so you are not over charged.
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isn't it scottish for 'alright'?  as in, 'are you alright?'
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Etymology\nPossibly from Latin gaudium, "joy". The word is known to have been adopted through the French gai in 12th century. Other Romance languages had a sense of "slack", "not closely fitting", but its etymological importance is not understood. It is unclear where the word originally came from. Some, such as Friedrich Christian Diez, suggested that it comes from Middle High German. The sense of "homosexual" is said to have come from an Arabic word via French; it is also said to come from the word's older sense of "dissolute".\n\nAdjective\n\nhappy, joyful, and lively \nIt's a wonderfully gay morning. \n\nfestive, bright, colourful \nDon we now our gay apparel \nPennsylvania Dutch include the plain folk and the gay folk. \n\nhomosexual \ntypical of homosexual appearance or behaviour (often in a stereotypical sense) \nThat tight leathing clothing looks a bit gay. \n\n(pejorative - slang) boring, unappealing, bad, of low quality, annoying, unfair \nThis game is gay. Let's play something else. \n\nNoun\na homosexual, most often a male homosexual but sometimes applied to female homosexuals, who are also called lesbians.