Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Where we get O.K. from

Martin Van Buren, West Africa, Haiti — all options explored

Dear Matthew Alice: What does the term O.K. stand for? We’ve all used it as long as we could talk, I’ll bet 90 percent of us haven’t a clue as to what it means. For all we know, we could be telling someone they’re Off Key or Off Kilter. Please help. — Bob, e-mailworld

The 90 percent of us who haven’t a clue should be smugly pleased to know that the 10 percent who think they know are wrong (to me, even more satisfying than being right). A brief summary of misguided information: O.K. is probably not short for “Oil Korrect.” But that explanation, published in a Boston newspaper in 1839 as a sort of joke, is the first known written reference to “O.K.” The O.K. Club in New York (circa 1840), political supporters of President Martin “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren, is also not the origin of the expression. His cronies just capitalized on an already-known slang term to make Martin seem like an O.K. kinda guy. Could the expression come from the West African words waw-ke or o-ke, which mean, roughly, “okay”? Or the Haitian port of Aux Cayes (“oh-kay”)? Its special rum was described as “Aux Cayes.” Some say it’s Choctaw (okeh), maybe French (from langued’oc).... (Fill in your best guess here.) “O.K.” is understood by virtually everybody on the planet, no matter what their native language; but not one of us knows where it came from.

Sponsored
Sponsored

July 13 update

Matthew Alice: I thought it was determined long ago that “OK” was phonetic for the Scots “Och, aye.” — Ziggy, the Net

Och, nae, McZig. Just another bonnie guess.

July 27 update

Where did the expression O.K. come from? — the question that wouldn’t die. The latest reply to my reply comes from an anonymous someone with access to a ballpoint pen, envelope, stamp, Xerox machine, and Post-its. Affixed to an article about the term “O.K.” is a note reading, “R — Matthew Alice on 6/22 was an idiotic moron.” Heck, Matthew Alice was an idiotic moron for most of the ’70s. If I’m down to only one day in ’95, it’s a miraculous transformation. The envelope was addressed to the Reader in general, not to me in particular, so I guess it was meant as a warning to my co-workers. It did not come as news to any of them. But on to the “O.K.” stuff. According to an article in the October 1990 Americana magazine, “O.K.” did originate as a sort of linguistic joke in that Boston newspaper in the 1830s and was spread around the country by the O.K. Club of New York, political supporters of Martin “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren. Americana cites the Columbia University journal American Speech as its source. No question that Van Buren’s claque made the expression nationally known; I just said they didn’t make it up. Other word experts (aside from the American Speech contributor) are more circumspect about O.K.’s origins, listing the Boston reference as the first seen in print. Okay? Okay.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise

Dear Matthew Alice: What does the term O.K. stand for? We’ve all used it as long as we could talk, I’ll bet 90 percent of us haven’t a clue as to what it means. For all we know, we could be telling someone they’re Off Key or Off Kilter. Please help. — Bob, e-mailworld

The 90 percent of us who haven’t a clue should be smugly pleased to know that the 10 percent who think they know are wrong (to me, even more satisfying than being right). A brief summary of misguided information: O.K. is probably not short for “Oil Korrect.” But that explanation, published in a Boston newspaper in 1839 as a sort of joke, is the first known written reference to “O.K.” The O.K. Club in New York (circa 1840), political supporters of President Martin “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren, is also not the origin of the expression. His cronies just capitalized on an already-known slang term to make Martin seem like an O.K. kinda guy. Could the expression come from the West African words waw-ke or o-ke, which mean, roughly, “okay”? Or the Haitian port of Aux Cayes (“oh-kay”)? Its special rum was described as “Aux Cayes.” Some say it’s Choctaw (okeh), maybe French (from langued’oc).... (Fill in your best guess here.) “O.K.” is understood by virtually everybody on the planet, no matter what their native language; but not one of us knows where it came from.

Sponsored
Sponsored

July 13 update

Matthew Alice: I thought it was determined long ago that “OK” was phonetic for the Scots “Och, aye.” — Ziggy, the Net

Och, nae, McZig. Just another bonnie guess.

July 27 update

Where did the expression O.K. come from? — the question that wouldn’t die. The latest reply to my reply comes from an anonymous someone with access to a ballpoint pen, envelope, stamp, Xerox machine, and Post-its. Affixed to an article about the term “O.K.” is a note reading, “R — Matthew Alice on 6/22 was an idiotic moron.” Heck, Matthew Alice was an idiotic moron for most of the ’70s. If I’m down to only one day in ’95, it’s a miraculous transformation. The envelope was addressed to the Reader in general, not to me in particular, so I guess it was meant as a warning to my co-workers. It did not come as news to any of them. But on to the “O.K.” stuff. According to an article in the October 1990 Americana magazine, “O.K.” did originate as a sort of linguistic joke in that Boston newspaper in the 1830s and was spread around the country by the O.K. Club of New York, political supporters of Martin “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren. Americana cites the Columbia University journal American Speech as its source. No question that Van Buren’s claque made the expression nationally known; I just said they didn’t make it up. Other word experts (aside from the American Speech contributor) are more circumspect about O.K.’s origins, listing the Boston reference as the first seen in print. Okay? Okay.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Next Article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader