Okay (well OK, OK, okay) usually means consent or approval, however, as the context may express mediocrity (How was the concert? OK.), In a sarcastic tone, or questioning may suggest that it does not take seriously the statements of our caller (I can 30 burgers to eat in ten minutes. ... Okay.) OK, you may also be present in the sense of 'enough' (eg, when pouring water into a glass.) But how did it happen that began to function OK in English, then to penetrate into other languages, and ultimately to move beyond its natural environment which is the language (Computer communications).

Well, there are several theories (even specialists origins of words can not say 100%, which is true), but all have one thing: their alleged authors do not come from one country or even continent! The first theory says about the West African slaves imported to the United States, speaking Wolof, which was the lingua franca (language that is being różnojęzycznymi means of communication between groups of people - just like today English) amongst these slaves. In the language of Wolof functioned phrase 'waw-kay', literally meaning 'yes, yes', with a similar pronunciation in addition to today's OK. When the American Civil aware your broke, fleeing from the south to the north of the United Slaves contributed to the spread of expression and living in the north of the settlers 'adapted' his spelling of the language, which they had used, resulting in okay. Probability theory gives the fact that Wolof at that time had a strong influence on the English language as evidenced by the other, taken from Wolof, words such as: banana, jive, dig yams, sock. And while we're at the Civil War is another theory says that after the battle soldiers or artillery bombardment did not noting the loss of life hung signs saying 0k, which was an acronym for Zero Killed (zero deaths, no losses), and since the English zero read / ou / can guess the rest. I wonder, what would it say Choctaw Indians, who have roughly the same period used the word 'Okeh', which means ... 'Yes, indeed. " Less popular among linguists have 'och aye' functioning among Scottish immigrants arriving in America or 'au quai! " (TXT Record of SPF to the docks!) Used by French dockers. At one of the forums I came across Oscar Smith also signing the certificates of quality in its factory Ford initials (on the same forum someone wrote that it was not only Otto Oskar Kowalski, Klaus and it was not a Ford factory, and Mercedes), but this is curiosity rather than a serious theory.

Who would come to mind, however, that the most interesting claim is linked to the trend, which also interacts very strongly in today's world? In Boston in 1838, was born fashion - watch out! - Shortening of words, creating shortcuts or intentional introduction to the spelling mistakes, so today (respectively) pozdro, omg! (Oh my God!) Or nakarmiuem rzułfia is nothing but a repetition of history! And this is how the expression 'All Correct' (TXT Record of SPF everything correctly, properly, read: ol corrections), as a result of the prevailing fashion, has undergone surgery literal phonetic writing, resulting in 'Oll Korrect', which in turn (following the same trend) was shortened to OK. It is worth noting that one of the 'prototypes' OK was OW (All Right -> Oll Wright -> SO). Allen Walker Read - a man who thoroughly studied the evolution and spread of the "OK" in the world (in the years 1963 to 1964 wrote about this series of articles) argued that, OK, that was a result of Boston's fashion was only OK the proper foundation, which took from the Old Kinderhook - nickname of the eighth U.S. President Martin Van Buren (Van Buren was born in Kinderhook.) Read himself said that the Boston fashion was not without influence on the formation of a current meaning OK, but the village is the name of the presidential and password, which used the Van Buren in his campaign (a pseudonym created from the initials of the president): Out of Kash, out of kredit, Out of klothes - no cash, no money in your account, no clothes - in short, OK, contributed to the rapid popularization of the term first in the entire United States, and then in the world.

I wonder which of today's linguistic creations have left a similar imprint that OK?

And for the persistent and curious at the end of a little flavor - Read devoted himself to research into the origin of another, equally interesting words. Insightful refer, for example Wikipedia.

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