Why we say “OK”

How a cheesy joke from the 1830s became the most widely spoken word in the world.

OK is thought to be the most widely recognized word on the planet. We use it to communicate with each other, as well as our technology. But it actually started out as a language fad in the 1830’s of abbreviating words incorrectly.

Young intellectuals in Boston came up with several of these abbreviations, including “KC” for “knuff ced,” “OW” for “oll wright,” and KY for “know yuse.” But thanks to its appearance in Martin Van Buren’s 1840 presidential re-election campaign as the incumbents new nickname, Old Kinderhook, OK outlived its abbreviated comrades.

Later, widespread use by early telegraph operators caused OK to go mainstream, and its original purpose as a neutral affirmative is still how we use it today.

[Vox]

Another popular false origin of OK comes from the American Civil War (1861-1865) which says that soldiers returning from battle would report "0K" (zero killed). And there's a few from around the world, too. Like the Greek "όλα καλά (óla kalá) which means "all good, " the Scottish "och aye, " which means "oh yes, " and even a French-named seaport in Haiti, Aux Cayes. While these are all pretty interesting and might indicate why "OK" was so easily adapted into language worldwide, none of them can actually be traced in their influence the way "oll korrect" can. Neat. - Coleman

[ajinkyadekhane]

YouTube at 3 am: Wanna know why we say Ok?

Me: Ok.

[adriangabriellabadan]

Me:
I want some mind blowing facts

Vox: OK

[NoriMori]

"Okay" is a magical word. It transcends language barriers. You could watch a movie in almost any language and still hear the word "okay". It requires no translation. You might not know how to say "yes" or "no" in another language, but you always know how to say "okay".

[ZiIIionaire]

That dude who wrote "ok" on Boston morning post should get a Noble peace prize and Most influential person award

[teixeira]

so a meme in 1830 became the most used word in the world

[popcornpretzel]

I think "Knuff Ced" was the most unexpected part of this video

So how did we end up with the notion that “okay” is the technically correct spelling of ok? I need a sequel to this video

[csgaiao]

I'm pretty sure that the word "OK" exists in almost every language. It's fascinating how universal it is.

[AnimeBallsDeep]

Answering questions I didn't know I had, excellent.

[morepower]

150 Years from now.

Future : Why do we say LOL?

[tammyt]

"Annie are you OK? Are you OK, Annie?"
This clip from the song especially shows how recognizable the word is.
First responders in CPR and First Aid classes are often trained to immediately ask "Are you OK." Not 'all right' or 'awake' or 'hurt', but 'OK' because a non-English speaking victim will likely recognize the word.

[roxii]

So basically an inside joke turned into a meme that defined history. That's kool

[mrcheesecake]

the writers at vox take their shower thoughts to a whole new level

[DjVortex-w]

So "OK" is one of the oldest memes that have survived to this day.

[funki]

O.K. = ohne Korrektur (="without correction" in German). German editors used this abbreviation when checking articles for newspapers. I read this in another book about German words that are used in other languages like Kaffeepaussi ("coffee" break) in Finnish, Brandmauer (firewall) in Russian, Dach (roof) in Ukrainian, le Waldsterben (forest death) in French, le Neinsager (someone who says no) in Swiss French and so on.

[CuteC]

2:42 Isn't O "- - -" in morse code? Is that chart in the back some outdated version?

[scottandrada]

This whole time I thought OK was shorthand for Okay, but OK preceded okay

[tatsumaki]

vox : we are running out of ideas
me : ok
vox : yes.

[bellabrieeee]

I love videos like these that explain in detail things we usually wonder all the time