Brain teaser: Where does the word 'OK' come from?

The word "OK" is believed to have originated in Boston, USA, in 1839, as an abbreviation of "Oll Korrect" (a misspelling of "All Correct"), often used in word games.

At that time, young urban intellectuals in America liked to create their own unique language. Initially, they simply abbreviated and spelled out words in a way that mimicked spelling; later, wanting a more distinctive way of communicating, they decided to create internal language codes.

They intentionally misspell common phrases to create homophones, then use the first two letters as a code. Many abbreviations are formed using this wordplay, such as KC for "Knuff Ced" (enough said), OW for "Oll Wright" (all alright), and KG for "Ko Go" (no go). Of these coded abbreviations, the most famous is "OK".

In 1839, the phrase "OK" was officially used in the Boston Morning Post. From then on, numerous newspapers used "OK," and it gradually became popular throughout the United States.

Even the 8th President of the United States, Martin Van Buren, used the word "OK" as a slogan for his second election campaign in 1841. Because he was born in the town of Kinderhook, New York, President Buren used the slogan: "Old Kinderhook was oll korrect" (the old man from Kinderhook was perfectly correct).

In 1841, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone (England) built a printing telegraph to send Moses codes to the other end of the line. The Morse code system for telegraphy, first used around 1844, was designed to create indentations on paper tape when an electric current was received. From these indentations, the code was then deciphered into written text.

Due to technological limitations, abbreviations were frequently used, making the text concise and easy to understand, and "OK" became even more popular.

This is where OK shines. The two letters are easy to type and very difficult to confuse with anything else. Even the telegraph manual issued in 1865 stipulated that "no message shall be considered transmitted until the receiving office gives the OK signal."

It was also thanks to the development of telegraphy that the word "OK" became popular throughout the world. "OK" became a word representing confirmation. Furthermore, over time, this word gradually acquired other meanings such as agreement and consent.

"OK" has gradually become a global symbol, infiltrating the spoken language of many different languages around the world. In each culture, "OK" takes on a different form and pronunciation. With its increasingly diverse usage, the true origin of the word "OK" has gradually faded into oblivion.

Libra (Summary)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cau-do-hack-nao-tu-ok-nguon-goc-tu-dau-ar945406.html