OK The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word

by Metcalf, Allan

• ISBN13: 9780199892532
• ISBN10: 0199892539
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, more common than an infant's first wordmaor the ever-present beverageCoke. It was even the first word spoken on the moon. It is "OK"-- the most ubiquitous and invisible of American expressions, one used countless times every day. Yet few of us know the secret history of OK--how it was coined, what it stood for, and the amazing extent of its influence. Allan Metcalf, a renowned popular writer on language, here traces the evolution of America's most popular word, writing with brevity and wit, and ranging across American history with colorful portraits of the nooks and crannies in which OK survived and prospered. He describes how OK was born as a lame joke in a newspaper article in 1839--used as a supposedly humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect" (ie, "all correct")--but should have died a quick death, as most clever coinages do. But OK was swept along in a nineteenth-century fad for abbreviations, was appropriated by a presidential campaign (one of the candidates being called "Old Kinderhook"), and finally was picked up by operators of the telegraph. Over the next century and a half, it established a firm toehold in the American lexicon, and eventually became embedded in pop culture, from the "I'm OK, You're OK" of 1970's transactional analysis, to Ned Flanders' absurd "Okeley Dokeley!" Indeed, OK became emblematic of a uniquely American attitude, and is one of our most successful global exports. Anyone who loves the life of words or the quirky corners of American culture will find this delightful book more than just OK.

Author Biography

Allan Metcalf is Professor of English at MacMurray College and Executive Secretary of the American dialect Society. He is the author of many other books on language, including most recently Presidential voices: Speaking Styles from George Washington to George W. Bush (2004). He participates in the" Lingua Franca" blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction: The ABCs of OK	p. 1
A Saturday Morning in Boston	p. 28
1840: Old Kinderhook is OK	p. 40
Hoax: Andrew Jackson's Misspelling	p. 56
Aesthetics: The Look and Sound of OK	p. 76
False Origins	p. 80
The Business of OK	p. 96
O.K. Clubs	p. 117
The Literary OK	p. 123
Oklahoma is OK	p. 143
Okey-Dokey	p. 147
Modern OK Literature	p. 157
The Practical OK	p. 166
The Worldùand England	p. 171
The Lifemanship OK	p. 182
The Psychological OK	p. 185
The American Philosophy	p. 196
Postscript: OK Day March 23	p. 199
Index	p. 205
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