OK, or should I say, okay? This is a question that has bugged me for quite some time. Which is the correct spelling of the term? According to Wikipedia’s entry under Okay, either one is OK to use and it’s just a matter of preference.
The term is so common that you would think there would be a consensus on it’s spelling, but apparently there is no absolute authority. Different style manuals do dictate how it’s to be spelled. That’s the problem, though. There are several different style manuals that are used by different schools and different publications in order to maintain consistency in the documents that are produced by them.
The etymology, or history of the word, is interesting, too. Apparently, this word has been in common usage in the United States since at least the 1830s when it first began appearing in newspaper articles. According to Wikipedia, it began as an abbreviation of an intentional misspelling of “All Correct” (i.e. “Oll Korrect) during a time when such acronyms were a major fad.
I find this fascinating when comparing it to the current fad of using abbreviated terms in text messaging, which has bled over into common usage and print media as well. What started the trend back in the 1830s, then? Was there some sort of viral meme that kicked it off? Some need to communicate in a quicker, more abbreviated fashion? Or, was it just cool?
It’s amazing to me how history repeats itself. It’s also incredible how much humanity hasn’t changed. Despite all of our technical innovations in the past century or so, we are still the same human beings, with the same needs and desires. Most of us still want to be cool and trendy, just like we did hundreds of years ago, and, I’m sure, thousands before that. Really, though, that’s OK… kk?
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Hi Ray…I have used both but paid closer attention to what I say after this post and turns out I use Okay a lot more than ok…
but whats kk?
I’m still getting over colour / color and optimise / optimize and other UK / US spellings before I start to worry about OK / okay. At least with OK / Okay it’s not going to break your stylesheet.
OK.
Hey Pearl. I always wonder about those little things we take for granted in our everyday speech and writing. ‘KK’ is one of those text messaging abbreviations that kids are using these days. Thanks for your comment!
Hi, Harvey. LOL. That’s a good point! Thanks for your comment.
phoneticians agree it’s Hokay. Quote, “most of us still want to be cool and trendy just like we did hundreds of years ago,and,I’m sure thousands before that.” Is really not at all OK, all correct “oll Korrect”. ; I never break stylesheets-manuals nor rock the boat, because girls just really want to have fun?!
Hi Christine. LOL. It’s OK to break the conventions imposed by style manuals in some situations and in some types of writing, but it’s always best to master the basic conventions first. Thanks for commenting!