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THE OLD KINDERHOOK THEORY
U.S. President Martin Van Buren was called Old Kinderhook
after his birthplace of Kinderhook, New York. On March 24,
1840, during Van Buren’s bid for re-election, his Democratic
supporters opened the OK Club on Grand Street in New York
City - inspired by the initials of Van Buren's nickname. Van
Buren lost, but OK lived on.
THE ORL KORRECT THEORY
The 1830s saw a rise in the number of quirky abbreviations
of common phrases. For example, ISBD meant “it
shall be done,” RTBS “it remains to be
seen” and SP “small potatoes.”
Furthermore, KY stood for “no use” (know
yuse) and, as noted in the Boston Morning Post on March 23,
1839, OK served as shorthand for “all correct”
(orl korrect).
THE CIVIL WAR THEORY
During the Civil War, when a battalion returned from the front,
the first man in line carried a sign displaying the number
of men killed in action: “9 Killed,” “5
Killed,” and so on. If the number was zero, the sign
read OK, indicating that all had survived.
THE AFRICAN THEORY
OKAY was brought to the United States by Africans under slavery,
as part of their native language. It has been claimed that
the phonetic waw-kay is a phrase (or word) in either
the Bantu or Wolof dialects (or both), kay being
a word meaning yes and waw an emphatic; waw-kay
is an emphatic yes. The use of the word kay alone
is recorded in the speech of black Americans as early as 1776.
Significantly, the emergence of OKAY in white Americans’
vocabulary dates from a period when many refugees from Southern
slavery were arriving in the North.
THE CHOCTAW THEORY
Some linguists draw attention to the Choctaw word okeh,
which has the same pronunciation and meaning as in general
American usage; U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, among others,
used this spelling to emphasize the word’s Native American
origins.
THE FRENCH THEORY
During the American Revolutionary War, French sailors made
"appointments" with American girls aux quais
(meaning when they were berthed at the docks). This theory
was put forward by Britain's Daily Express newspaper
in 1940.
THE ANGLO-SAXON THEORY
Several centuries before its first appearance, Norwegian and
Danish sailors used an Anglo-Saxon word, hogfor,
which meant ready for sea. This was frequently shortened to
HG, which in turn would have been pronounced hag-gay.
THE SCOTTISH THEORY
OK is an adaptation of the Scottish expression Och-Aye.
This expression derives from och, an exclamation
of surprise and aye, meaning yes. It has been in
existence since the 16th century.
THE OLD ENGLISH THEORY
In early England, the last harvest loads brought in from the
fields were known as hoacky or horkey. It
was also the name given to the feast that followed the harvest.
The satisfactory completion of harvest was therefore known
as hoacky, which was soon shortened to OK.
THE PRUSSIAN THEORY
The Prussian general Schliessen who fought for the American
colonies during the American Revolutionary War was given the
title Oberst Kommandant. All his orders were initialed
OK.
THE GREEK THEORY
The two Greek letters omega and khi appear
in a work called Geoponica in 920AD as being a magical
incantation (when repeated twice) against fleas!
THE FINISH THEORY
The Fins have a word for correct: oikea.
THE TELEGRAPH THEORY
During the days of the telegraph there was a man named Oscar
Kent, who never made mistakes in his transmissions. When a
telegraph message was signed "O.K.", all was correct.
THE OK / OKAY THEORY
The correct spelling of “OK” is "OKAY".
The spelling "OK" is example of historical revisionism,
as all the evidence shows that the word "OKAY" comes
from Africa and was in use long before any record of "OK."
(see THE AFRICAN THEORY and THE CHOCTAW THEORY.)
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