Modern Origins

The modern usage may be short for any of several different spellings of "all correct", including "Oll Korrect", "Orl Korrect", and "Ole Kurreck". This was part of the fads in the 1830s and 1840s of intentionally misspelling common phrases and referring to them by the resulting initials. These probably were infuenced by the Plattdeutsch/Low Saxon phrase "Oll klor", which would have been spoken by emigrants from Northern Germany. The fad included other many other briefly popular abbreviations such as OW, "oll wright" (all right) and KY, "know yuse" (no use), none of which have survived.

In the presidential election of 1840, the term "OK" was further popularized by use as an slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid; it was an allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birthplace Kinderhook, New York. Van Buren lost, but the word stuck. [1] This explanation was first documented by Allen Walker Read in several articles in the journal American Speech in 1963 and 1964, and is very nearly the only one supported by the earliest evidence. The first recorded use of "OK" in this sense was in the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839, in the sentence "He...would have the 'contribution box', et ceteras, o.k.--all correct--and cause the corks to fly, like sparks, upward."

Competing Theories

There is supposedly a Choctaw word "okeh" with the same meaning as American usage; Woodrow Wilson, among others, thought this to be the source of "OK". Even after A. W. Read's work, many argue that the case has not been proven decisively, or that perhaps similar-sounding words in other languages did solidify the acceptance of "OK" in American English. Others are skeptical, questioning how many Americans were familiar enough with Choctaw for it to influence their use of English.

The term OK has also been used in an English will and testament from 1565. It is possible that this usage originates from "oak" the tree from which British Navy ships were constructed at the time of the British colonization of North America and the subsequent War of Independence. The actor David Garrick (1717-1779) wrote the Royal Navy's song "Heart of Oak", a patriotic song celebrating naval victories of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). In Britain oak wood is a symbol of solid dependable construction. Thus it is easy to see how establishing the reliability of the vessel would involve asking if it was "oak-a?" In 2000 the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce said, in the Royal Navy's "Navy News": "It is no exaggeration to say that the reputation of the Royal Navy is founded on British oak."

The term OK was also used by typesetters and people working in the publishing bussiness. A manuscript that didn't need any changes or corrections would be marked "O.K." for Ohne Korrektur (German for "No changes"). In ancient Greece teachers would mark especially good school papers with "OK" for Ola Kala (everything good). Another theory is that it comes from the British English word hoacky (the last load of the harvest). Or the Finnish word Oikea (correct). Or the Scottish expression och aye. Or the French aux Cayes or au quai. Or a word used in many west African languages meaning all right, yes indeed and introduced in the US via slaves.

A surely apocryphal account is that the term was used in U.S. military records to state that there were zero casualties or zero killed, hence 0.K., at a particular battle site.

Initials

Since the term bears resemblance to a person's initials, many proposals have been made as to who "O.K." was, and why their name would become synonymous with acceptability.

One theory says it comes from a railroad freight agent, Obadiah Kelly, who initialed bills of lading, or an Indian chief Old Keokuk who wrote his initials on treaties. Another theory is that it comes from boxes of Orrins-Kendall crackers which were popular with Union troops during the US Civil War. Some say the term comes from the German businessman Otto Kaiser who put his initials on goods he had inspected, or a Oskar Krause who did quality checks at Ford and marked cars he had inspected with OK.

History

Early Adopters?

A Boston businessman used it in a daily journal in 1815.

Spread

Whatever its origin, it 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. Occasionally it is extended to okey dokey or even, thanks to Ned Flanders, okely dokely.

Possibly Related Words

"Oaky" means wine which has a woody flavour because it is held in a container made of oak.

Other Sources