OK… But Where Did That Come From? Here’s the Backstory Of The Two-Letter Word

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In our busy lives, text messaging plays a very important role. If you are busy with something and have no time for detailed replies, you simply reply with a "mmm", "yeah" and "Ok". But stop right there! You are saying 'Ok' for okay! For those who don't know, the word OK is actually 'Olla Kalla' in Greek meaning 'All Correct'.

But it doesn't stop there, the origins of "OK" have sparked various theories over the years. Some believe it stems from the German abbreviation "Oberst Kommandant," denoting a high military rank, while the French attribute it to the pronunciation of 'Aux Cayes', a port town in Haiti. Another theory suggests it was shorthand for "open key," a term linked to the telegraph. Additionally, some claim that Andrew Jackson popularized the Choctaw word "okeh" during his time as a general along the Mississippi River.

Surprising right? The word is probably the most widely used and recognized in the world. But when was the actual origin of the word 'Ok'. Let's go back in time and find out.

Allen Walker Read discovery in mid 1960s - A literary scholar at Columbia University by the name of Allen Walker Read tried to discover its origin in the mid-1960s. He disapproved earlier theories about the origins of OK and found that the two letter word first appeared in print on March 23, 1839 when Charles Gordon Greene, editor of the Boston Morning Post used it as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" or "all correct" in a satirical article about the editorial practices of a rival newspaper that went like this:

"he of the [Providence] Journal, and his train-band, would have the 'contributions box,' et ceteras, o.k.-all correct-and cause the corks to fly..."

Martin Van Buren, campaign slogan - "Vote for OK" was the campaign slogan used by Martin Van Buren during the 1840 presidential election. Letters between newspaper editors continued to feature the abbreviation, though it didn't gain widespread popularity until the following year. Supporters of President Martin Van Buren, known as "Old Kinderhook" after his New York hometown, adopted "Vote for OK" as a campaign slogan, even creating OK Clubs to influence voters. THe sarcastic part was voters ultimately found Van Buren not quite "OK" enough to re-elect him.

Etymologist Allen Read's thorough research, done well before digital newspaper archives existed, mapped out how "OK" spread from North America to the rest of the world-even reaching the moon, where Buzz Aldrin used it, far from its humble beginnings in a newsroom. Years later, some scholars questioned Read's work. In a 1975 issue of American Speech, Frank Greco from Rockefeller University suggested that "OK" might have more than one origin, including the Scottish phrase "och aye," meaning "oh, yes," which may have merged over time. Today, Read's theory is still one of the most convincing explanations for how "OK" went from an obscure editorial jab to a worldwide expression.

OK, now you know where that word came from?