Merriam-Webster's Word Central

August 27, 2011

OK or okay (adverb or adjective): \oh-KAY\
What does it mean?: : all right
How do you use it?: It's always hard to change schools, but after a month Sacha realizes that she's doing OK in her new surroundings.
Are you a word wiz?: What do you think was the origin of the word "OK"?

A. a signal used between ships

B. a response to a command by a superior officer

C. the chorus of a popular song during the Jazz Age

D. an abbreviation in a newspaper

If you picked D, you did OK! In the late 1830s, Boston newspapers were filled with abbreviations (not unlike today's use of abbreviations in email and text messages). The nineteenth century fad went so far as to produce abbreviations for intentional misspellings. Such popular expressions as "N.G." (for "no go") and "A.R." (for "all right") gave way to "K.G." (for "know go") and "O.W." (for "oll wright"). The abbreviation "O.K." stood for "oll korrect," a deliberate misspelling of "all correct." Several of these abbreviated misspellings became popular for a time, but only "O.K." was able to win a lasting place in the language.