OK was first used in America – OK? Its earliest recorded use dates from 1839, when it appeared in a Boston newspaper. At that time several journalists in the city were amusing themselves by abbreviating phrases they had deliberately misspelled. OW was used for ‘oll wright’, meaning ‘all right’. OK was the abbreviated form of ‘oll korrect’, or ‘all correct’. Not long after, a group of politicians in New York used the word in the name of a club they formed. They called this the Democratic O.K. Club and ‘OK’ became a sort of password between members.
In the same year, 1840, the American people voted for a new president. One of the candidates was President Martin Van Buren, who wanted to be re-elected. His nickname was Old Kinder hook – Kinderhook being the place where he was born. The coincidence was too good to miss and all over the country his supporters took up ‘OK’ as their rallying cry. OK was OK to his supporters everywhere, and the expression came all the more to mean all right, all correct’. It was just a shame that Martin Van Buren lost the election!
His defeat did not affect the popularity of the word, though, and it has been spreading around the world ever since.
Picture Credit : Google
