View source for OK

{{short description|English word}}
{{other uses|OK (disambiguation)|Okay (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
[[File:OK-button - Macro photography of a remote control.jpg|thumb|alt="A round push button with the letters O and K as labels.|An OK [[push-button|button]] on a [[remote control]]]]

'''''OK''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|oʊ|ˈ|k|eɪ|audio=en-us-okay.ogg}}), with spelling variations including '''''okay''''', '''''okeh''''', '''''O.K.''''' and [[#Variations|many others]], is an English word (originating in [[American English]]) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently used as a [[loanword]] in other languages. It has been described as the most frequently spoken or written word on the planet.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1455146/ok-most-spoken-word-planet-marks-its-175th-anniversary|title=OK, 'most spoken word on the planet', marks its 175th anniversary|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=23 March 2014|access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>

The origin of ''OK'' is disputed; however, most modern reference works hold that it originated around Boston as part of a fad in the late 1830s of [[abbreviation|abbreviating]] misspellings; that it is an initialism of "'''oll korrect'''" as a misspelling of "all correct". This origin was first described by linguist [[Allen Walker Read]] in the 1960s.

As an [[adjective]], ''OK'' principally means "adequate" or "acceptable" as a contrast to "bad" ("The boss approved this, so it is OK to send out"); it can also mean "mediocre" when used in contrast with "good" ("The french fries were great, but the burger was just OK"). It fulfills a similar role as an adverb ("Wow, you did OK for your first time skiing!"). As an [[interjection]], it can denote compliance ("OK, I will do that"),<ref name=CK2021>{{Citation|title=OKAY across Languages: Toward a comparative approach to its use in talk-in-interaction|last=Couper-Kuhlen|first=Elizabeth|pages=131–173|chapter-url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/slsi.34.05cou|publication-date=2021|series=Studies in Language and Social Interaction|chapter=The prosody and phonetics of OKAY in American English|date=17 March 2021 |volume=34 |publisher=John Benjamins|doi=10.1075/slsi.34.05cou|isbn=9789027260284|s2cid=233623150|issn=1879-3983|editor-last=Betz|editor-first=Emma|editor2-last=Deppermann|editor2-first=Arnulf|editor3-last=Mondada|editor3-first=Lorenza|editor4-last=Sorjonen|editor4-first=Marja-Leena}}</ref> or agreement ("OK, that is fine"). It can mean "assent" when it is used as a [[noun]] ("the boss gave her the OK to the purchase") or, more colloquially, as a [[verb]] ("the boss OKed the purchase"). ''OK'', as an adjective, can express acknowledgement without approval.{{sfn|Beaver|2011}} As a versatile discourse marker or [[Backchannel (linguistics)|continuer]], it can also be used with appropriate [[Intonation (linguistics)|intonation]] to show doubt or to seek confirmation ("OK?", "Is that OK?").<ref name="Yngve, Victor page 568">Yngve, Victor. "On getting a word in edgewise," page 568. Papers from the Sixth Regional Meeting [of the] Chicago Linguistic Society, 1970.</ref><ref name=CK2021 /> Some of this variation in use and shape of the word is also found in other languages.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Betz|first1=Emma|last2=Sorjonen|first2=Marja-Leena|contribution=Introduction: OKAY emerging as a cross-linguistic object of study in prior research|editor-last=Betz|editor-first=Emma|editor2-last=Deppermann|editor2-first=Arnulf|editor3-last=Mondada|editor3-first=Lorenza|editor4-last=Sorjonen|editor4-first=Marja-Leena|title=OKAY across Languages: Toward a comparative approach to its use in talk-in-interaction|pages=2–28|url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/slsi.34.01bet|publication-date=2021|series=Studies in Language and Social Interaction|date=17 March 2021 |publisher=John Benjamins|doi=10.1075/slsi.34.01bet|isbn=9789027260284|s2cid=233639474|issn=1879-3983|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Etymologies==
{{See also|List of proposed etymologies of OK}}

Many explanations for the origin of the expression have been suggested, but few have been discussed seriously by [[Linguistics|linguists]]. The following proposals have found mainstream recognition.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UnIDL-eHOs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/1UnIDL-eHOs| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Boston abbreviation fad===
The [[etymology]] that most reference works provide today is based on a survey of the word's early history in print: a series of six articles by [[Allen Walker Read]]<ref name="bailey">{{*}}{{cite book |contributor-first=Richard W. |contributor-last=Bailey |contribution=Allen Walker Read, American Scholar |last=Read |first=Allen W. |editor-last=Bailey |editor-first=Richard W. |title=Milestones in the History of English in America |publisher=American Dialect Society, Duke University Press |location=Durham, NC |year= 2002}}<br />{{*}}{{cite journal |first=Richard W. |last=Bailey |date=December 2004 |title=Allen Walker Read, American Scholar |pages=433–437 |journal=ETC: A Review of General Semantics |url=http://www.generalsemantics.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/61-4-bailey.pdf |access-date=6 February 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924021442/http://www.generalsemantics.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/61-4-bailey.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> in the journal ''American Speech'' in 1963 and 1964.<ref name=AHD/><ref name="read">*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1963 |title= The first stage in the history of "O.K" |journal= American Speech |volume= 38 |issue= 1| pages= 5–27 |jstor=453580 |doi=10.2307/453580}}<br />*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1963 |title= The second stage in the history of "O.K" |journal= American Speech |volume= 38 |issue= 2| pages= 83–102 |jstor=453285 |doi=10.2307/453285}}<br />*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1963 |title= Could Andrew Jackson spell? |journal= American Speech |volume= 38 |issue= 3| pages= 188–195 |jstor=454098 |doi=10.2307/454098}}<br />*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1964 |title= The folklore of "O.K." |journal= American Speech |volume= 39 |issue= 1| pages= 5–25 |jstor=453922 |doi=10.2307/453922}}<br />*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1964 |title= Later stages in the history of "O.K." |journal= American Speech |volume= 39 |issue= 2| pages= 83–101 |jstor=453111 |doi=10.2307/453111}}<br />*{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1964 |title= Successive revisions in the explanation of "O.K." |journal= American Speech |volume= 39 |issue= 4| pages= 243–267 |jstor=454321 |doi=10.2307/454321}}</ref> He tracked the spread and evolution of the word in American newspapers and other written documents, and later throughout the rest of the world. He also documented controversy surrounding ''OK'' and the history of its [[False etymology|folk etymologies]], both of which are intertwined with the history of the word itself. Read argues that, at the time of the expression's first appearance in print, a broader [[fad]] existed in the United States of "comical misspellings" and of forming and employing acronyms, themselves based on colloquial speech patterns:

{{blockquote|The abbreviation fad began in Boston in the summer of 1838 ... and used expressions like OFM, "our first men," NG, "no go," GT, "gone to Texas," and SP, "small potatoes." Many of the abbreviated expressions were exaggerated misspellings, a stock in trade of the humorists of the day. One predecessor of OK was OW, "oll wright."{{sfn|Adams|1985}}}}

The general fad is speculated to have existed in spoken or informal written U.S. English for a decade or more before its appearance in newspapers. ''OK''{{'}}s original presentation as "all correct" was later varied with spellings such as "Oll Korrect" or even "Ole Kurreck".

The term appears to have achieved national prominence in 1840, when supporters of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic political party]] claimed during the [[1840 United States presidential election]] that it stood for "Old Kinderhook", a nickname for the Democratic president and candidate for reelection, [[Martin Van Buren]], a native of [[Kinderhook (town), New York|Kinderhook, New York]]. "Vote for OK" was snappier than using his Dutch name.<ref name="The Economist"/> In response, [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] opponents attributed ''OK'', in the sense of "Oll Korrect", to the bad spelling of [[Andrew Jackson]], Van Buren's predecessor. The country-wide publicity surrounding the election appears to have been a critical event in ''OK''{{'}}s history, widely and suddenly popularizing it across the United States.

Allen Walker Read proposed an etymology of ''OK'' in "Old Kinderhook" in 1941.{{sfn|Read|1941}} The evidence presented in that article was somewhat sparse, and the connection to "Oll Korrect" not fully elucidated. Various challenges to the etymology were presented; e.g., Heflin's 1962 article.{{sfn|Heflin|1962}} However, Read's landmark 1963–1964 papers silenced most of the skepticism. Read's etymology gained immediate acceptance, and is now offered without reservation in most dictionaries.<ref name=AHD>{{cite web |title=OK or o·kay |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=OK |work=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |publisher=Houghton Mifflin}} (good summary of the results of Read's six articles)</ref> Read himself was nevertheless open to evaluating alternative explanations:

{{blockquote|Some believe that the Boston newspaper's reference to OK may not be the earliest. Some are attracted to the claim that it is of American-Indian origin. There is an Indian word, okeh, used as an affirmative reply to a question. Mr Read treated such doubting calmly. "Nothing is absolute," he once wrote, "nothing is forever."<ref name="The Economist">{{cite news|title=Allen Read |url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2002/10/24/allen-read |access-date=29 December 2014 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=24 October 2002}}</ref>}}

===Choctaw===
In "All Mixed Up", the folk singer [[Pete Seeger]] sang that ''OK'' was of [[Choctaw]] origin,{{sfn|Fay|2007}} as the dictionaries of the time tended to agree. Three major American reference works (Webster's, New Century, Funk & Wagnalls) cited this etymology as the probable origin until as late as 1961.{{sfn|Fay|2007}}

The earliest written evidence for the Choctaw origin is provided in work by the Christian missionaries [[Cyrus Byington]] and Alfred Wright in 1825.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} These missionaries ended many sentences in their translation of the Bible with the [[Grammatical particle|particle]] "okeh", meaning "it is so",{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} which was listed as an alternative spelling in the 1913 Webster's.<ref name=okeh>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/okeh |title=okeh |work=Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary |year= 1913 |access-date=29 December 2014 |via=The Free Dictionary by Farlex |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229203357/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/okeh |archive-date=2014-12-29}}</ref>

Byington's ''Dictionary of the Choctaw Language'' confirms the ubiquity of the "okeh" particle,{{sfn|Byington|1915}} and his ''Grammar of the Choctaw Language'' calls the particle ''-keh'' an "affirmative contradistinctive", with the "distinctive" o- prefix.{{sfn|Byington|1870|p=14}}

{{blockquote|Subsequent Choctaw spelling books de-emphasized the spellings lists in favor of straight prose, and they made use of the particle[,] but they too never included it in the word lists or discussed it directly.  The presumption was that the use of particle "oke" or "hoke" was so common and self-evident as to preclude any need for explanation or discussion for either its Choctaw or non-Choctaw readership.{{sfn|Fay|2007}}}}

The [[Choctaw language]] was one of the languages spoken at this time in the [[Southeastern United States]] by a tribe with significant contact with African slaves.<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert Elliot |last= Flickinger |year=1911 |title=The Choctaw Freedmen and The Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23321/23321-h/23321-h.htm|publisher=gutenberg.org}}</ref> The major language of trade in this area, [[Mobilian Jargon]], was based on Choctaw-Chickasaw, two [[Muskogean]]-family languages. This language was used, in particular, for communication with the slave-owning<ref name="miles">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVQvhgEuKZMC&pg=PA170 Tiya Miles, ''Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom''], University of California Press, 2005, pp. 170-173</ref><ref name="enc">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SL003.html "SLAVERY"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018205458/https://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SL003.html |date=18 October 2010}}, ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Oklahoma Historical Society, Retrieved 29 December 2014</ref> [[Cherokee]] (an [[Iroquoian]]-family language).{{sfn|Badger|1971}}{{sfn|Hopkins}} For the three decades prior to the Boston abbreviation fad, the Choctaw had been in extensive negotiation with the U.S. government,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = DeRosier | first1 = Arthur Jr. | year = 1967 | title = Andrew Jackson and Negotiations for The Removal of the Choctaw Indians | journal = The Historian | volume = 29 | issue = 3| pages = 343–362| doi = 10.1111/j.1540-6563.1967.tb01782.x }}</ref> after having fought alongside them at the [[Battle of New Orleans]].

Arguments for a more Southern origin for the word note the tendency of English to adopt loan words in [[language contact]] situations, as well as the ubiquity of the OK particle. Similar particles exist in native language groups distinct from Iroquoian ([[Algonquian (language)|Algonquian]], [[Cree]] cf. "[http://www.creedictionary.com/search/index.php?q=ekosi&scope=1 ekosi]").

===West African===
An early attestation of the particle 'kay' is found in a 1784 transcription of a North Carolina slave, who, seeking to avoid being flogged, explained being found asleep in the canoe he had been ordered to  bring to a certain place to pick up a European exploring near his newly-purchased property :

{{blockquote|Kay, massa, you just leave me, me sit here, great fish jump up into da canoe, here he be, massa, fine fish, massa; me den very grad; den me sit very still, until another great fish jump into de canoe; but me fall asleep...{{sfn|Smyth|1784|pp=1:118–121}}}}

A West African (Mande and/or Bantu) etymology has been argued in scholarly sources, tracing the word back to {{Clarify|date=September 2023|reason=Which? Wolof and Bantu are utterly unrelated and spoken 2000 km apart.|text=the [[Wolof language|Wolof]] and [[Bantu languages|Bantu]]}} word ''waw-kay'' or the [[Mande languages|Mande]] (aka "Mandinke" or "Mandingo") phrase ''o ke''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

David Dalby first made the claim that the particle ''OK'' could have African origins in the 1969 Hans Wolff Memorial Lecture. His argument was reprinted in various newspaper articles between 1969 and 1971.{{sfn|Cassidy|1981}} This suggestion has also been mentioned by Joseph Holloway, who argued in the 1993 book ''The African Heritage of American English'' (co-written with a retired missionary) that various West African languages have near-homophone discourse markers with meanings such as "yes indeed" or which serve as part of the [[Backchannel (linguistics)|back-channeling]] repertoire.<ref name="Yngve, Victor page 568"/>{{sfn|Holloway|Vass|1993}} Frederic Cassidy challenged Dalby's claims, asserting that there is no documentary evidence that any of these African-language words had any causal link with its use in the American press.{{sfn|Cassidy|1981}}

The West African hypothesis had not been accepted by 1981 by any etymologists,{{sfn|Cassidy|1981}}<ref name="onlineetym">{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ok|title=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref><ref name="lighter">Lighter, Jonathon, (1994).  ''The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang,'' 708.</ref> yet has since appeared in scholarly sources published by linguists and non-linguists alike.<ref name="linguistlist.org">[https://linguistlist.org/issues/4/4-705/ LINGUIST List 4.705]. 14 September 1993.</ref>

===Alternative etymologies===
A large number of origins have been proposed. Some of them are thought to fall into the category of [[False etymology|folk etymology]] and are proposed based merely on apparent similarity between ''OK'' and one or another phrase in a foreign language with a similar meaning and sound.  Some examples are:
* A corruption from the speech of the large number of descendants of Scottish and [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]] (Scots-Irish) immigrants to North America, of the common Scots phrase ''och aye'' ("oh yes").<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Read |first1= Allen W |year= 1964 |title= The folklore of "O.K." |journal= American Speech |volume= 39 |issue= 1| pages= 5–25 |jstor=453922 |doi=10.2307/453922}}</ref>
* A borrowing of the [[Greek language|Greek]] phrase {{lang|el|όλα καλά}} ({{Transliteration|el|''óla kalá''}}), meaning "all good".{{sfn|Weber|1942}}

==Early history in print==
[[Allen Walker Read]] identifies the earliest known use of ''O.K.'' in print as 1839, in the edition of 23 March of the ''[[Boston Morning Post]]''. The announcement of a trip by the Anti-Bell-Ringing Society (a "frolicsome group" according to Read) received attention from the Boston papers. Charles Gordon Greene wrote about the event using the line that is widely regarded as the first instance of this strain of ''OK'', complete with [[Gloss (annotation)#In linguistics|gloss]]:

{{blockquote|The above is from the ''[[Providence Journal]]'', the editor of which is a little too quick on the trigger, on this occasion. We said not a word about our deputation passing "through the city" of Providence.—We said our brethren were going to New York in the Richmond, and they did go, as per Post of Thursday. The "Chairman of the Committee on Charity Lecture Bells," is one of the deputation, and perhaps if he should return to Boston, via Providence, he of the Journal, and his ''train''-band, would have his "contribution box," et ceteras, ''o.k.''—all correct—and cause the corks to fly, like ''sparks'', upward.}}

Read gives a number of subsequent appearances in print. Seven instances were accompanied with glosses that were variations on "all correct" such as "oll korrect" or "ole kurreck", but five appeared with no accompanying explanation, suggesting that the word was expected to be well known to readers and possibly in common colloquial use at the time.

Various claims of earlier usage have been made. For example, it was claimed that the phrase appeared in a 1790 court record from [[Sumner County, Tennessee]], discovered in 1859 by a [[Tennessee]] historian named [[Albigence Waldo Putnam]], in which [[Andrew Jackson]] apparently said "proved a bill of sale from Hugh McGary to Gasper Mansker, for a Negro man, which was O.K.".<ref>[https://jacksonianamerica.com/2010/12/09/ok-o-k-or-okay/ Jacksonian America: "OK, O.K. or Okay?"] [https://books.google.com/books?id=9DjMSsxUR_UC&q=%22proved+a+bill+of+sale%22&pg=PR1 "History of Middle Tennessee" by A.W. Putnam, 1859, page 252]</ref> The lawyer who successfully argued many Indian rights claims, [[Felix S. Cohen]], supported the Jacksonian popularization of the term based on its Choctaw origin:
{{blockquote|When Andrew Jackson popularized a word that his Choctaw neighbors always used in their councils to signify agreement, the aristocrats he threw out of office, always grasping at a chance to ridicule backwoods illiteracy, accused him of abbreviating and misspelling "All Correct". But O.K. (or okeh, in Choctaw) does not mean "all correct"; it means that we have reached a point where practical agreement is possible, however far from perfection it may lie.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Felix S. |last=Cohen |title=Americanizing the White Man |journal=The American Scholar |volume=21 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1952 |pages=177–191 |jstor=41206885 }}</ref>}}

David Dalby brought up a 1941 reference dating the term to 1815. The apparent notation "we arrived ok" appears in the hand-written diary of William Richardson traveling from Boston to New Orleans about a month after the [[Battle of New Orleans]].{{sfn|Heflin|1941|p=90}} However, Frederic Cassidy asserts that he personally tracked down this diary, writing:
{{blockquote|After many attempts to track down this diary, Read and I at last discovered that it is owned by the grandson of the original writer, Professor L. Richardson, Jr., of the Department of Classical Studies at Duke University. Through his courtesy we were able to examine this manuscript carefully, to make greatly enlarged photographs of it, and to become convinced (as is Richardson) that, whatever the marks in the manuscript are, they are not OK.{{sfn|Cassidy|1981}}}}

Similarly, [[H. L. Mencken]], who originally considered it "very clear that 'o. k.' is actually in the manuscript",{{sfn|Wait|1941}} later recanted his endorsement of the expression, asserting that it was used no earlier than 1839. Mencken (following Read) described the diary entry as a misreading of the author's self-correction, and stated it was in reality the first two letters of the words ''a h[andsome]'' before noticing the phrase had been used in the previous line and changing his mind.{{sfn|Mencken|1945|p=275}}

Another example given by Dalby is a Jamaican planter's diary of 1816, which records a black slave saying "Oh ki, massa, doctor no need be fright, we no want to hurt him".<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Dalby |date=8 January 1971 |title=O.K., A.O.K and O KE; The Remarkable Career Of an Americanism That Began in Africa |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/08/archives/ok-aok-and-o-ke-the-remarkable-career-of-an-americanism-that-began.html |access-date=10 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=31}}<br />{{*}}{{cite news |first=David |last=Dalby |title=The Etymology of O.K. |newspaper=The Times |date=14 January 1971}}</ref> Cassidy asserts that this is a misreading of the source, which actually begins "Oh, ki, massa ...", where ''ki'' is a phrase by itself:

{{blockquote|In all other examples of this interjection that I have found, it is simply ''ki'' (once spelled ''kie''). As here, it expresses surprise, amusement, satisfaction, mild expostulation, and the like. It has nothing like the meaning of the adjective OK, which in the earliest recorded examples means 'all right, good,' though it later acquires other meanings, but even when used as an interjection does not express surprise, expostulation, or anything similar.{{sfn|Cassidy|1981}}}}

==Variations==
Whether this word is printed as OK, Ok, ok, okay, or O.K. is a matter normally resolved in the style manual for the publication involved. Dictionaries and style guides such as ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' and ''[[The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage]]'' provide no consensus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/09/im-ok-youre-okay.html |title=I'm OK, you're okay |publisher=Grammarphobia |date=11 September 2008 |access-date=12 June 2011}}</ref> Whilst most variants have descended from the root "OK", "okay" predominates in edited English as it permits easier modification (e.g. by pluralising).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2022 |title=okay; OK; O.K. |encyclopedia=[[Garner's Modern English Usage]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxfordshire |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780197599020.001.0001/acref-9780197599020-e-6402 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-01-15 |last=Garner |first=Bryan A. |edition=5th}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Variation!!Description
|-
|okeh
|An alternative spelling, no longer common,<ref name=okeh/> although it remained in sporadic use well into the 20th century.<ref>Jennewein, Paul. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19770609&id=ZrosAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JRMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2668,1984090 "Okay is Okeh: Along the Cape Fear"]. ''[[Star-News|Wilmington Morning Star]]'' (Wilmington, N.C.), 10 June 1977, p. 1-D. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.</ref>
|-
|hokay
|Used as an alternative.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|k or kk or oka
|Commonly used in [[instant messaging]], or in [[SMS]] messages. Before the days of SMS, "K" {{morse|dash|dot|dash}} was used as a [[Prosigns for Morse code|Morse code prosign]] for "Go Ahead".{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|Okie dokie
| This slang term was popularized in the film "[[The Little Rascals]]" (Oki doki). Also with alternate spellings, including ''okeydoke''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Yeep! Yeep! Amerikansk Yeep! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30kEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62 |publisher=[[Life (magazine)|LIFE Magazine]] |access-date=13 September 2021 |page=62 |date=23 July 1945}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}} The phrase can be extended further, e.g. "Okie dokie (aka) pokie / smokie / artichokie / karaoke / lokie," etc.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=15706 |title=Is the origin of the phrase "Okie Dokie Smokie" Racist? |website=Wordwizard |access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=book_okie |title=Overview – Okie-Dokie, Artichokie! |website=Grace Lin |access-date=2019-05-29 |archive-date=10 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210021800/http://www.gracelin.com/content.php?page=book_okie |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[A-OK]]
| Variant attributed to [[Alan Shepard]] and the 1961 [[NASA]] launch of the [[Mercury-Redstone 3|Mercury mission]].<ref name="time19620302">{{cite magazine
url=https://time.com/archive/6872981/the-press-calm-voice-from-space/
|magazine=Time |title=Calm Voice from Space |access-date=2024-06-04 |date=1962-03-02 |publisher=Time Inc.}}</ref><ref name=right-stuff-p227>{{cite book |last1=Wolfe |first1=Tom |author-link=Tom Wolfe |title=The Right Stuff |date=1988 |publisher=Bantam Books |location=Toronto |isbn=9780553275568 |page=227 |edition=17th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OtpvQZR6sQC&q=a-okay |access-date=June 28, 2015 |via=Google Books}}</ref>{{Dubious|date=October 2024|reason=The article linked contradicts this}}
|-
|M'kay
| Slang term popularized by ''[[South Park]]'' TV show. Pronounced also as "Mmmm K". This variation has connotations of sarcasm, such as condescending disagreement.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|Okily Dokily!
|Catchphrase used by [[Ned Flanders]] in ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
|-
|Oki or okii or okie
|Humorous respellings of okay.
|}

===International usage===
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2022}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Language!!Form!!Usage/history
|-
|[[Afrikaans]]
|oukei
|Used in colloquial [[Afrikaans]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marais |first1=Salome |last2=Coetzee |first2=Anna |title=Tienerafrikaans |journal=Journal for Language Teaching |date=18 May 2006 |volume=39 |issue=2 |doi=10.4314/jlt.v39i2.6060 |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jlt/article/view/6060 |access-date=2 June 2024|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
|[[Arabic]]
|اوكي or اوك
|[[Arabic]] speakers also use the word widely, particularly in areas of former British presence like Egypt, [[Iraq]], Israel, Jordan, and Palestine. The prevalence of the term in the Arab world can be attributed to the prevalence of American cinema and television. It is pronounced just as it is in English but is very rarely seen in Arabic newspapers and formal media.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Catalan language|Catalan]]
|okey
|{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
| [[Chinese language]]
| OK
|In Mainland China, the native term {{Lang-zh|c=好|p=hǎo|labels=no}} (literally: "good") is more often used instead, saying "OK" is usually reserved for when communicating with foreigners. However, the term tends to be modified into "OK了" (OK le) to better fit [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]] grammar. (The "了" indicates a change of state; in this case it indicates the achievement of consensus.) It is also somewhat humorously used in the "spelling" of the word for karaoke, "[[wikt:卡拉OK|卡拉OK]]", pronounced "kah-lah-oh-kei" (Mandarin does not natively have a syllable with the pronunciation "kei"). On computers, OK is usually translated as {{lang-zh|c=确定|p=quèdìng| labels=no}}, which means "confirm" or "confirmed".{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} In [[Taiwan]], ''OK'' is frequently used in various sentences, popular among but not limited to younger generations. This includes the aforementioned "OK了" (Okay le), "OK嗎" (Okay ma), meaning "Is it okay?" or "OK啦" (Okay la), a strong, persuading affirmative (similar to English's "Alright, cool"), as well as the somewhat tongue-in-cheek yes/no construction "O不OK?" (O bù OK?), "Is it OK or not?", again adopting the term into Chinese grammar.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Czech language|Czech]]
|oukej
|Pronounced as the English ''OK''. When written ''OK'', it is pronounced [o:ka:]. Neither version recognized as official.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Registered since the 1940s.<ref>{{cite web |title=oukej |url=https://bara.ujc.cas.cz/psjc/search.php?hledej=Hledej&heslo=oukej&where=hesla&zobraz_ps=ps&zobraz_cards=cards&pocet_karet=3&ps_heslo=ok&ps_startfrom=0&ps_numcards=3&numcchange=no&not_initial=1 |website=Kartotéka lexikálního archivu |access-date=2 June 2024}}</ref>
|-
|[[Danish language|Danish]]
|okay, OK [ɔʊ̯kʰɛɪ̯] [oːˀ kʰɔːˀ]{{efn|name=sp}}
| Appears from the 1930s. Pronunciation can be reduced and both vowels may become monophthongs. There is a difference in meaning between stress on first or last syllable.<ref>{{Cite Q|Q121366166}}</ref>
|-
|[[Dutch language|Dutch]]
|oké
|''oke'', ''ok'' and ''okay'' are also used, but are less common in the formal written language.<ref>{{in lang|nl}} [http://taaladvies.net/taal/advies/vraag/594/ Taaladvies.net]</ref>
|-
|[[Esperanto]]
|o kej
|The word is pronounced with stress on the second syllable.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wennergren |first1=Bertilo |title=Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko |url=https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/ekkrioj_sonimitoj/elparolado_skribado.html |website=bertilow.com |access-date=22 June 2024}}</ref>
|-
|[[Estonian Language|Estonian]]
|okei
| ''Okei'' is the most common form, but others include ''okk'', ''okoo'', ''oki'', ''okas'', ''okeika'' and reduplicated versions.<ref name=keevallik>{{Cite Q|Q121366176}}</ref>
|-
|[[Faroese language|Faroese]]
|ókey [ɔuˈkɛɪ]
|Possibly loaned in the 1940s as a result of the [[British occupation of the Faroe Islands]] or through Danish.<ref name=joansson>{{cite book |last1=Jóansson |first1=Tórður |title=English loanwords in Faroese |date=1997 |publisher=Fannir |isbn=978-99918-49-14-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/englishloanwords0000joan/page/192/mode/2up |access-date=22 June 2024}}</ref>{{Rp|193}}
|-
|[[Filipino language|Filipino]]
|okay
|Especially in the phrase ''okay lang'' 'it's okay'.<ref>{{cite web | last=Alfonso-Gregorio | first=Nikki | title=Why the phrases 'okay lang yan' and 'push mo lang' won't help you cope with the stresses of the pandemic | website=SBS Language | date=2022-01-07 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/filipino/en/article/why-the-phrases-okay-lang-yan-and-push-mo-lang-wont-help-you-cope-with-the-stresses-of-the-pandemic/p9m8hss5f | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Finnish language|Finnish]]
|''OK'', ''okei'' [okeɪ], [oukeɪ], [ookoo]{{efn|name=sp}}<ref>{{cite web | title=Kielitoimiston sanakirja | website=Kielitoimiston sanakirja | url=https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/OK?searchMode=all | language=fi | access-date=2024-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Kielitoimiston sanakirja | website=Kielitoimiston sanakirja | url=https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/okei?searchMode=all | language=fi | access-date=2024-06-08}}</ref>
|Used since the 1930s. Used as part of conversational transition and closing, to signal acceptance of a directive, and to respond to sharing of information.<ref>{{Cite Q|Q121366172}}</ref>
|-
| [[French language|French]]
| oké
| <ref>{{Cite Q|Q121366175}}</ref>
|-
| [[German language|German]]
| O.K., o.k., okay [owkeɪ] [ɔˈkeː], [oˈkeː]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/o__k_|title=Duden {{!}} o. k. {{!}} Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition, Herkunft|website=www.duden.de|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref>
| Used to mark understanding, agreement, closing and transition.<ref name=helmer>{{Cite Q|Q121366177}}</ref>
|-
|[[Greek language|Greek]]
|OK, οκ [ocei] [ok]{{efn|Reading of the spelling without treating it as an abbreviation.}}
|<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spilioti |first1=Tereza |title=Graphemic representation of text-messaging: Alphabet-choice and code-switches in Greek SMS |journal=Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association |date=2009 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=393–412 |doi=10.1075/prag.19.3.05spi|doi-access=free }}</ref>
|-
|[[Modern Hebrew]]
|או קיי
|Common as equivalent to the Hebrew word בסדר [b'seder] ('adequate', 'in order').{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]
|oké
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Hungarian-English dictionary | publisher=Hungarian Academy of Sciences | website=SZTAKI Szótár | url=https://szotar.sztaki.hu/en/search?fromlang=hun&tolang=eng&searchWord=ok%C3%A9 | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]
|ókei
|<ref>{{cite web | title=ISLEX-orðabókin | website=ISLEX | url=https://islex.arnastofnun.is/is/ord/61218 | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Indonesian language|Indonesia]]
|ok, oke, or okey
| Sometimes using with suffix "lah": oklah, okelah. in chatting on social media sometimes indonesians only type "oklh" to minimize time to type.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
|-
|[[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| オーケー ({{lit|ōkē}}), オッケー ({{lit|okkē}}){{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
| Early records include a song from 1930 and a novel in 1951. The word has a high-low tone. Also used in a reduplicated form.<ref name=kuroshima>{{Cite Q|Q121366173}}</ref>
|-
|[[Korean language|Korean]]
| 오케이 /okʰei/
| Occurs in newspapers, magazines and novels from the 1920s. The word is found in a 1937 loanword dictionary.<ref name=kuroshima/>
|-
|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]
|okej
|''ok'' also used, but considered to be a part of more colloquial internet language.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]
|okej
|{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Malay language|Malay]]
|OK
|Frequently used with the emphatic suffix "lah": OK-lah.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Maldivian language|Maldivian]]
|Okay
|Used in different ways, often used to agree with something, more often used while departing from a gathering "Okay Dahnee/Kendee."{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Maltese language|Maltese]]
|owkej
|Pronounced as the English ''OK''.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]
| OK, ok [okeɪ] or [o ko]{{efn|name=sp|Based on the individual pronunciation of the letters ''o'' and ''k'' in the language rather than English.}}
|''Okei'' and ''oukei'' are also commonly used written or spoken.<ref>{{in lang|no}} [https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=ok&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&begge=+&ordbok=begge Ordbok.uib.no]</ref>
|-
|[[Polish language|Polish]]
|okej
|The most frequent form is ''okej'', but others are ''oki'', ''oka'', ''okidok'', ''okejka'' and ''okejos''.<ref name=keevallik/>
|-
|[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|OK, oquei
|<ref>{{cite Q|Q121366174}}</ref>
|-
|[[Russian language|Russian]]
|окей [ɐˈkʲeɪ̯], ок [ok]
|There are many variations such as ''оке'', ''оки'' and ''океюшки''.<ref>{{cite web | title=ОК — Teletype | website=blog.tema.ru | date=4 August 2021 | language=ru | url=https://blog.tema.ru/R_D-brfv-uB | access-date=2024-12-20}}</ref> Also used for conversation closure.<ref name=intro>{{Cite Q|Q121366167}}</ref>{{Rp|28}}
|-
|[[Serbo-Croatian]]
|okej
|{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Singlish]]
| OK
| ''OK'' is often used with suffixes used such as ''OK lor'', ''OK lah'', ''OK meh'', ''OK leh'', which are used in different occasions.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Slovak language|Slovak]]
|oukej, okej, OK [oʊkeɪ] [o:ka:]{{efn|name=sp}}
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Slovenské slovníky | website=Slovenské slovníky | url=https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk/?w=oukej&s=exact&c=Ofb7&cs=&d=kssj4&d=psp&d=ogs&d=sssj&d=orter&d=scs&d=sss&d=peciar&d=ssn&d=hssj&d=bernolak&d=noundb&d=orient&d=locutio&d=obce&d=priezviska&d=un&d=pskfr&d=pskcs&d=psken | language=sk | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Slovenské slovníky | website=Slovenské slovníky | url=https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk/?w=OK&s=exact&c=9d72&cs=&d=kssj4&d=psp&d=ogs&d=sssj&d=orter&d=scs&d=sss&d=peciar&d=ssn&d=hssj&d=bernolak&d=noundb&d=orient&d=locutio&d=obce&d=priezviska&d=un&d=pskfr&d=pskcs&d=psken | language=sk | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Slovenian language|Slovene]]
|okej, okay
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Fran/iskanje/okej | website=Fran | url=https://fran.si/iskanje?Query=okej&IsAdvanced=True | language=sl | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Spanish language|Spanish]]
|okey
|Used in Spain in the 1980s. Also part of the phrase {{Wikt-lang|es|okey, makey}}.<ref name="Fernández">{{cite news |last1=Fernández |first1=Dámaris |title=Del "alucina vecina" al "chachi piruli, Juan Pelotilla": las 30 expresiones de los millennials que son todo un descubrimiento para la generación Z |url=https://www.larazon.es/cultura/alucina-vecina-chachi-piruli-juan-pelotilla-30-expresiones-millennials-que-son-todo-descubrimiento-generacion_2023052864735392573e26000130d677.html |access-date=14 May 2024 |work=La Razón |date=28 May 2023 |language=es-ES}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Swedish language|Swedish]]
|okej
|<ref>{{cite web | title=Nationalencyklopedin | website=NE.se | date=2024-06-02 | url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/ordbok/svensk/okay-(1) | language=sv | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
|[[Thai language|Thai]]
|โอเค
| Pronounced "o khe".<ref>{{cite web |title=โอเค |url=http://thai-language.com/id/199464 |website=Thai-language.com |access-date=11 September 2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[Turkish language|Turkish]]
|okey
|Has a secondary meaning referring to the game ''[[Okey]]'', from a company that used the word as its name in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web | title=okey | website=Nişanyan Sözlük | url=https://www.nisanyansozluk.com/kelime/okey | language=tr | access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>
|-
| [[Urdu]]
| OK
| {{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
|-
|[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]
|ô-kê
|Used in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnam]]; ''okey'' also used, but ''ok'' more commonly.<ref>Luong, Ngoc. Personal interview by Nu Alpha Pi. 13 April 2010.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2024}}
|}
{{notelist}}

==Gesture==
{{Main|OK gesture}}
[[File:OK Sign.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.5|alt=Closeup of fingers with the thumb and index finger forming a circle and the other fingers extended.|Okay sign]]
In the United States and much of Europe a related [[gesture]] is made by touching the index finger with the thumb (forming a rough circle) and raising of the remaining fingers.<ref name=FGuide>Armstrong, Nancy & Melissa Wagner. (2003) ''Field Guide to Gestures: How to Identify and Interpret Virtually Every Gesture Known to Man.'' Philadelphia: Quirk Books.</ref> It is not known whether the gesture is derived from the expression, or if the gesture appeared first. The gesture was popularized in the United States in 1840 as a symbol to support then-presidential candidate and incumbent vice president Martin Van Buren. This was because Van Buren's nickname, Old Kinderhook, derived from his hometown of Kinderhook, NY, had the initials O.K.<ref name=FGuide/> Similar gestures have different meanings in other cultures, some offensive, others devotional.<ref name="aol">[https://www.aol.com/article/2010/07/26/dangerous-body-language-abroad/19554303/ Dangerous Body Language Abroad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425000711/https://www.aol.com/article/2010/07/26/dangerous-body-language-abroad/19554303/ |date=25 April 2017 }}, by Matthew Link. Posted 26 July 2010 01:00 PM. Retrieved on 17 November 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.maria-brazil.org/brazilian_body_language_obscene.htm Body Language. Obscene, to be used with extreme moderation!] Retrieved on 17 November 2012</ref>

==Computers==
[[File:Notepad Font selection.png|thumb|right|Example of OK and Cancel buttons in Windows Notepad]]
[[File:Msxbasic.png|thumb|The [[command prompt]] for user input in [[MSX BASIC]] was {{samp|Ok}}|alt=A blue screen with white text: "MSX BASIC version 3.0 / Copyright 1988 by Microsoft / 23414 Bytes free / Disk BASIC version 1.0 / Ok" and a square representing the cursor. On the bottom line, "color auto goto list run".]]

''OK'' is used to label [[Button (computing)|buttons]] in [[Dialog Box#Application modal|modal dialog boxes]] such as [[error message]]s or print dialogs, indicating that the user can press the button to accept the contents of the dialog box and continue. When the dialog box contains only one button, it is almost always labeled ''OK''. When there are two buttons, they are most commonly labeled ''OK'' and ''Cancel''. ''OK'' is commonly rendered in [[upper case]] and without punctuation: ''OK'', rather than ''O.K. or'' ''Okay.''  The ''OK'' button can probably be traced to user interface research done for the [[Apple Lisa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Do_It.txt&topic=Lisa |title=Apple user interface designers pick ''OK'' |publisher=Folklore.org |date=17 July 1980 |access-date=12 June 2011}}</ref>

The [[Forth (programming language)|Forth]] programming language prints ''ok'' when ready to accept input from the keyboard. This prompt is used on [[Sun Microsystems|Sun]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], and other computers with the Forth-based [[Open Firmware|Open Firmware (OpenBoot)]]. The appearance of ''ok'' in inappropriate contexts is the subject of some humor.<ref>
{{cite conference
 |conference=[LISA '99] |title=The C Days of Y2K
 |url=http://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/lisa99/y2k.html
 |publisher=[[USENIX]]
 |date=23 November 1999
 |access-date=21 February 2011
}}</ref>

In the [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP), upon which the World Wide Web is based, a successful response from the server is defined as ''OK'' (with the numerical code [[HTTP 200|200]] as specified in RFC 2616).  The [[Session Initiation Protocol]] also defines a response, ''200 OK'', which conveys success for most requests (RFC 3261).

Some [[Linux distribution]]s, including those based on [[Red Hat Linux]], display [[Booting|boot progress]] on successive lines on-screen, which include ''[&nbsp;OK&nbsp;]''.

===In Unicode===
Several [[Unicode character]]s are related to visual renderings of OK:
* {{unichar|1F197|SQUARED OK}}
* {{unichar|1F44C|OK HAND SIGN}}
* {{unichar|1F44D|THUMBS UP SIGN}}
* {{unichar|1f592|REVERSED THUMBS UP SIGN}}
* {{unichar|1F646|FACE WITH OK GESTURE}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web|last=Adams|first=Cecil|title=What does "OK" stand for?|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/503/what-does-ok-stand-for|work=[[The Straight Dope]]|access-date=11 September 2013|author-link=Cecil Adams|date=1 January 1985}}
* {{cite journal|last=Badger|first=Herbert Andrew|title=A Descriptive Grammar of Mississippi Choctaw|year=1971|publisher=[[University of Southern Mississippi]]|oclc=30845851}}
* {{cite journal|last=Beath|first=Paul L.|title='O.K.' in Radio Sign Language|journal=[[American Speech]]|date=October 1946|volume=21|issue=3|page=235|jstor=486779}}
* {{cite web|last=Beaver|first=David|title=Not OK|author-link=David Beaver|date=20 February 2011 |work=Language Log |url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2979 |access-date=10 December 2014}}
* {{cite book|last=Byington|first=Cryus|year=1870|title=Grammar of the Choctaw Language|publisher=McCalla & Stavely |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1xiSjMTpQgC&q=cyrus+byington}}
* {{cite book|last=Byington|first=Cyrus|title=A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language|year=1915|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|url=https://archive.org/details/choctawlanguag00byinrich|author-link=Cyrus Byington}}
* {{cite journal|last=Cassidy|first=Frederic G.|title=OK—Is It African?|journal=American Speech|date=Winter 1981|volume=56|issue=4|pages=269–273|jstor=455123|doi=10.2307/455123}}
* {{cite journal|last=Eubanks|first=Ralph T.|title=The Basic Derivation of 'O.K.'|journal=American Speech|date=October 1960|volume=35|issue=3|pages=188–192|jstor=453884|doi=10.2307/453884}}
* {{cite web|last=Fay |first=Jim |title=The Choctaw Expression "Okeh" and the Americanism "Okay" |url=http://www.illinoisprairie.info/chocokeh.htm |publisher=Illinois Prairie |access-date=11 September 2013 |date=14 July 2007|url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224185657/http://www.illinoisprairie.info/chocokeh.htm |archive-date=24 December 2010}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Greco|first1=Frank A.|last2=Degges, Mary|title=The Etymology of OK Again|journal=American Speech|date=Autumn–Winter 1975 |volume=50|issue=3/4|pages=333–335|jstor=3088024|doi=10.2307/3088024}}
* {{cite journal|last=Heflin|first=Woodford A.|title='O. K.', But What Do We Know about It?|journal=American Speech|date=April 1941|volume=16|issue=2|pages=87–95|jstor=487428|doi=10.2307/487428}}
* {{cite journal|last=Heflin|first=Woodford A.|title='O. K.' and Its Incorrect Etymology|journal=American Speech|date=December 1962|volume=37|issue=4|pages=243–248|jstor=453377|doi=10.2307/453377}}
* {{Cite report |author= Hopkins, Nicolas A.|title=The Native Languages of the Southeastern United States |url=http://www.famsi.org/research/hopkins/SouthEastUSLanguages.pdf |publisher=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc |access-date=11 September 2012 |ref={{harvid|Hopkins}}}}
* {{cite book|title=The African Heritage of American English|year=1993|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0253328381|last1=Holloway|first1=Joseph E.|last2=Vass|first2=Winifred Kellersberger|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/africanheritageo00holl}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Levin|first1=Harry|author-link=Harry Levin|last2=Gray, Deborah|title=The Lecturer's OK|journal=American Speech|date=Autumn 1983|volume=58|issue=3|pages=195–200|jstor=455226|doi=10.2307/455226}}
* {{cite journal|last=Matthews|first=Albert|title=A Note on 'O.K.'|journal=American Speech|date=December 1941|volume=16|issue=4|pages=256–259|jstor=486564|doi=10.2307/486564}}
* {{cite book|last=Mencken|first=H. L.|author-link=H. L. Mencken|title=The American Language|year=1936|publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]]|location=New York|isbn=0394400755|pages=206–207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zh7Ma1SCthQC |edition=4th}}
* {{cite journal|last=Mencken|first=H. L.|title='O. K.,' 1840|journal=American Speech|date=April 1942|volume=17|issue=2|pages=126–127|jstor=486458|doi=10.2307/486458}}
* {{cite book|last=Mencken|first=H. L.|title=The American Language: Supplement I|url=https://archive.org/details/americanlanguage01menc|url-access=registration|year=1945|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=0394400763}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Mencken |first=H. L. |title=The Life and Times of O.K. |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |pages=57–61| date=September 24, 1949 |publication-date=1 October 1949 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1949/10/01/1949_10_01_063_TNY_CARDS_000221526}}
* {{cite journal|last=McMillan|first=B.|title='O.K.,' A Comment|journal=American Speech|date=April 1942|volume=17|issue=2|page=127|jstor=486459}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pound|first=Louise|title=Some Folk-Locutions|journal=American Speech|date=December 1942|volume=17|issue=4|pages=247–250|jstor=487190|author-link=Louise Pound|doi=10.2307/487190}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pound|first=Louise|title=Two Queries|journal=American Speech|date=October 1951|volume=26|issue=3|pages=223–224|jstor=453088|doi=10.2307/453088}}
* {{cite journal|last=Pyles|first=Thomas|title='Choctaw' Okeh Again: A Note|journal=American Speech|date=May 1952|volume=27|issue=2|pages=157–158|jstor=454369}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Read|first=Allen W.|author-link=Allen Walker Read|title=The Evidence on O.K.|magazine= [[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review of Literature]] |pages=3–4, 10–11| date=19 July 1941}}
* {{cite journal|last=Rife|first=J. M.|title=The Early Spread of "O. K." to Greek Schools|journal=American Speech|date=October 1966|volume=41|issue=3|page=238|jstor=454033}}
* {{cite book|last=Smyth|first=J. F. D.|title=A Tour in the United States of America|year=1784|publisher=G. Robinson|isbn=9780665412226|url=https://archive.org/stream/cihm_41222/cihm_41222#page/n151/mode/2up/search/%22great+fifh%22}}
* {{cite journal|last=Wait|first=William Bell|title=Richardson's 'O. K.' of 1815|journal=American Speech |date=April 1941|volume=16|issue=2|pages=136|jstor=487427|author-link=William Bell Wait|doi=10.2307/487427}}
* {{cite journal|last=Walser|first=Richard|title=A Boston "O.K." Poem in 1840|journal=American Speech |date=May 1965|volume=40|issue=2|pages=120–126|jstor=453718|doi=10.2307/453718}}
* {{cite journal|last=Weber|first=Robert|title=A Greek O.K.|journal=American Speech|date=April 1942 |volume=17|issue=2|pages=127–128|jstor=486460}}

{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Metcalf, Allan. (2011). ''OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word''. Oxford University Press, Oxford. {{ISBN|978-0-19-537793-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Betz|first1=Emma|last2=Deppermann|first2=Arnulf|last3=Mondada|first3=Lorenza|last4=Sorjonen|first4=Marja-Leena|year=2021|title=OKAY across Languages: Toward a comparative approach to its use in talk-in-interaction|publisher=John Benjamins|doi=10.1075/slsi.34|isbn=9789027260284|series=Studies in Language and Social Interaction 34|hdl=10138/339675|s2cid=243148719}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|OK}}
{{Commons category|OK}}
* [https://www.vox.com/videos/2018/9/12/17850662/why-we-say-ok-okay Why we say "OK"] - Vox News produced video
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101224185657/http://www.illinoisprairie.info/chocokeh.htm The Choctaw Expression Okeh and the Americanism Okay]
* [http://wishydig.blogspot.com/2007/08/ok-lets-continue.html Ok. Let's continue.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131102022300/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/ok/ NPR: The Origin of OK (audio)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071018210748/http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxokxxxx.html FAQ: "OK"]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12503686 BBC: How 'OK' took over the world]. Retrieved 18 February 2011.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American English words]]
[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:Interjections]]
[[Category:Slang]]
[[Category:Martin Van Buren]]