All Hollywood stars can envy the popularity of the word "O.K." – its scope is grandiose. It is a true citizen of the world who has registered in every language. However, "O.K." continues to remain a mystery to many: what does it mean literally, where did it come from, who is the creator? Well, we have an answer to these and other questions!
Today, the word "ok" is maybe not spoken only by the presenters of the news on the central television channels. We can hear "O.K." everywhere: youth slang, songs and films, or telephone conversations. And if you make a research on the Internet inquiring regarding correspondence all over the world, the word "ok" will cover more than one gigabyte of traffic. All these people are not victims of fashion, but the confirmation of information that "O.K." is the world's most widely used and implemented word on the planet.
How President Van Buren Became O.K.
Watch yourself: how many times a day do you say the word "O.K."? And how many times have you asked the question what does this word mean, where did it originate from, and how it was originally used by the "aborigines"? Let us be enlightened together without postponing, OK?
The Americans would be offended and then declare war if we started looking for the progenitors of the word "O.K." not in the United States. The most plausible is the hypothesis that US President Martin Van Buren used this word as a part of his campaign slogan: "Old Kinderhook is O.K." At the same time, Kinderhook is a Dutch settlement and a state in New York, where he comes from.
Van Buren, like all modern celebrities, came up with the pseudonym Old Kinderhook, which was successfully distributed by young and ardent American Democrats. "Club OK" is an unofficial name of the election headquarters of the presidential candidate. Evil tongues were engaged in black PR deciphering "O.K." as "Out of Kash", "Out of Kredit."
How President Jackson Reviewed Documents
Continuing the political theme, we add the version that US President Andrew Jackson often used "OK" while reviewing documents. He wrote "all correct" using the German analoge oll korrekt ", which was shortened to "O.K."
Newspaper Version
Americans not so much involved in politics will convince you that the word "OK" comes from the abbreviation "oll korrect" - a comic or mistaken version of "all correct" in the newspaper of Boston in 1839. However, it still remains a mystery, whether this newspaper had such popularity and authority to spread the phrase around the world.
Europe Origin Version
The Germans
Europeans, having given to the word "OK" a cordial welcome, began to assert that not all blood is American in its veins. The Germans are sure that we have to say "thank you" to proofreaders who used the phrase "O.K.", "ohne Korrektur", that is "without proofreading", reviewing the articles before sending them to the press.
The French
The French believe that "OK" originally meant the absence of losses, zero killed or "0 killed" that acquired a short version of "0 K". The French, accustomed to be praised above the English, believe that they (the English) borrowed the phrase from them and began to use it widely during the Second World War when the pilots relayed information on the absence of losses to the base.
The Greeks
The Greeks believe that the modern "O.K." originated from the Greek "OLA KALA", by which the Greek sailors "infected" rail track workers in the United States, who began marking with these two letters the serviceability of the railway tracks.
And Again the USA
How not to juggle with hypotheses, but let us come back again to the center of the world - the United States. Residents of Oklahoma are convinced that to the origin of the word "OK" traces to the name of their native state, shortened to the first letters. Such a reduction was common in the days of one election campaign. And try to offer the Americans a version of the French soldiers or Greek sailors – at best, you will be laughed at.
There are many variants, but we know that the truth always lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe, you know other stories about the origin of the word "OK"? Or did you come up with the most, at first glance, incredible options for deciphering? Do not rush to consider your thoughts as wrong – share them first with us!