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THE TRUTH ABOUT O.K.

By: Abby Hayward

The most widely understood American word in the world is O.K. The explanations for its origin have been as imaginative as they have been various. Some have claimed that O.K. is a version of the Chocktaw affirmation okeh. Others have asserted that its is short from the Greek olla kalla ("all good") or Orrin Kendall crackers or Aux Kayes rum or the name of the chief Old Keokuk or only kissing.

The truth is more politically correct than any of these theories. In the 1830s in New England, there was a craze from initialisms, in the manner of the current popular T.G.I.F. and P.D.Q. The fad went so far as to generate letter combinations of intentional misspellings: K.G. for "know go," K.Y. for "know use," and O.W. for "oll wright." O.K. fro "oll korrect" naturally followed.

Of all the loopy initialisms and misspellings of the time, O.K. alone survived. That's because of a presidential nickname that consolidated the letters in the national memory. Martin Van Buren, elected our eight president in 1836, was born in Kinderhook, NY, and, early in his political career was dubbed "Old Kinderhook." Echoing the "oll korrect" initailism, O.K. became the rallying cry of the Old Kinderhook Club, a political organization supporting Van Buren during the 1840 campaign. The coinage did Van Buren no good, and he was defeated in his bid fro reelection. However, the word honoring his name today remains what H.L. Mencken identified as "the most shining and successful Americanism ever invented."

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Source: 1999 Farmer's Almanac