Origin and history of OK

"all right, correct," 1839, only survivor of a slang fad in U.S. for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings, such as N.C. for enough said (" 'nuff ced"); K.G. for "no good," as if spelled know good; K.Y. for no use ("know yuse"). In the case of O.K., the abbreviation is of "oll korrect." Also see P.D.Q.

Probably further popularized by its use by both parties in the raucous 1840 U.S. presidential election. The O.K. Club were New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's re-election bid (supposedly in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook); their Whig rivals marched under "OK" banners. The word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc.

Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this spelling was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Greek immigrants to America who returned home early 20c. having picked up U.S. speech mannerisms were known in Greece as okay-boys, among other things.

The noun is attested from 1841, "endorsement, approval, authorization" (especially as indicated by the letters O.K.); the verb, "to approve, agree to, sanction," is by 1888. Okey-doke is student slang is attested by 1932.