The Most Recognized Word in the World

1. Introduction.

Surfing the net an idea came to my mind. What is the most recognized word in the world? And I found the answer. It is the word that is spelled and pronounced in the same way, no matter where you go on the world. It is the word “OK”.

“OK” is the term of approval, acceptance, agreement. It is often written as OK, O.K., Ok, Okay, okeeor more informally as simply kay, K, Kkor sometimes used with other words as okey dokey.

According to some studies “OK” is the most frequently spoken word on the planet. However the origin of the word “OK” is not clear and there are a lot of explanations where this origin came from. The word “OK” is one of the most popular subjects in etymology.

"Okay" (also spelled "OK," "O.K.") is a colloquial English word denoting approval, acceptance, assent, or acknowledgment. "Okay" has frequently turned up as a loanword in many other languages. As an adjective, "okay" means "adequate," "acceptable" ("this is okay to send out"), "mediocre" often in contrast to "good" ("the food was okay"); it also functions as an adverbin this sense. As aninterjection, it can denote compliance ("Okay, I will do that"), or agreement ("Okay, that's good"). As a verband nounit means "assent" ("The boss okayed the purchase," and, "The boss gave his okay to the purchase.") It can also be used with appropriatevoice tone—such as sarcasmor a questioning tone—to show doubt or to seek confirmation, assent and approval ("Okay..?" or "Is that okay?").

The aim of my research work is to find out where this word came from.

The tasks are the following:

1. to consider different versions of “OK” etymology
2. to study its usage
3. to consider classmates’ opinion.

To my mind the topic is actual because a lot of people use the word “OK” but very few of them think how it appeared in our speech.

II. The main body.

Etymology.

The origins of "okay" are unknown. Various etymologies have been proposed for okay, but none has been unanimously agreed upon. Most are generally regarded to be unlikely or anachronistic.

So here are just some of the theories (some of which are, in reality, just attempts to fix an earliest date, and some of which are highly fanciful!), and my own personal summary appears at the end.

The Choctaw theory
In the American Choctaw Indian language, there is a word okeh, which means "it is so". It is likely (although I can find no hard evidence) that this word was used in some American communities in the early 19th century. There is a report that Andrew Jackson, during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, learned of this Choctaw word, liked it, and used it.

Woodrow Wilson also preferred this etymology, and used okeh when he approved official papers. His use led to this particular form being picked up by Okeh Records, "the name of a series of popular phonograph records" [Mencken, 1936] as well as hot-dog stands, shoe-shining parlours and more.

The Andrew Jackson Libel theory
Some time around 1832, Seba Smith was accused of libel in claiming that Andrew Jackson endorsed a pronouncement written by his literary secretary, Amos Kendell, with OK Amos. The details are not very clear, but it is possible that what was really written was OR, meaning "Order Recorded". However, one newspaper reporting on the matter, presumably some years later, said that the letters OK had been adopted "as a sort of [Democratic] part cry and [were] fastened upon their banners". This does give at least some credence to the idea that OK was at least in familiar use prior to 1840. The Wolof theory
Like Choctaw Indian, the Wolof language (spoken in Senegal and The Gambia, formerly The Gold Coast) has something like okehto mean an emphatic "yes" (it's more like waa-key in reality). Wolof has given American English a number of words, perhaps through the African slave trade, such as juke, honky (to mean a white man), hipcat (or hepcat, meaning a jazz enthusiast), jive and even dig (as in "to understand"), although it should be noted that there is nowhere near universal agreement on these! It is likely that okeh appeared in early black American spoken slang.

The Other Languages theories
Yet more languages have similar-sounding words for "yes" or "it is so". Liberian has oke, and Burmese has hoakeh, for instance. Yet again, it is possible that these examples crept into American use in small isolated areas at some time prior to 1839.

The Indian Chief theory
Keokuk was an Indian chief (after whom Keokuk, in Iowa, is named). His admirers sometimes referred to him as "Old Keokuk, he's all right", and the initials OK, came to mean the same thing.

The orl korrect theory
The Internet fashion for condensing phrases into abbreviation certainly not new! The 1830s saw a rise of quirky abbreviations for common phrases, which for some reason seems to have been particularly popular in Boston. ISBD was used to mean "it shall be done", RTBS for "it remains to be seen" and SP for "small potatoes". It went further, with KY used to mean "no use" (know yuse) and an article in the March 23rd, 1839, edition of the Boston Morning Post, saw this produce OK, short for "all correct" (orlkorrect). This is the earliest published appearance of OK that has so far been found.

 The Richardson theory
William Richardson recorded his journey from Boston to New Orleans in his 1815 diary. Transcriptions of the diary show "Arrived at Princeton, a handsome little village, o.k. and at Trenton where we dined at 1p.m." - although in some have proposed that this showed the use of the expression in 1815, the original manuscript shows that this was actually part of some alterations that may have been added by Richardson (or someone else), possibly even after 1840 when the term had come into common use. Another possibility is that the writing is of a.h., referring to "a handsome", but there are many objections to this theory.

The 16th century theories
Several claims have been made to have found appearances of OK have in 16th century manuscripts. In one instance Notes & Queries (1911) points out that the will of Thomas Cumberland in 1565 is shown to use OK. But more careful scrutiny shows that this is more likely to have been the initials of the scrivener. Books published in 1593 and 1596 also have OK included, but apparently as nouns. The text of one (Have with You to Saffron-Walden, by Thomas Nashe, the British author) goes "Martin is Guerra, Brown a brone-bill, & Barrow a wheelbarrow; Ket a knight, H.N. [referring to Henry Nichols] an O.K." As Mencken states in his supplement to The American Language, "the meaning here is unfathomable".

The Old Kinderhook theory

Martin van Buren was standing as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1840. He had acquired the nickname of Old Kinderhook (he was born in Kinderhook, New York). On March 24, 1840 the Democrats opened the OK Club in Grand Street, New York City, based on the initials of van Buren's nickname. The expression OK soon became the watchword of this club, and in that same year, a Democratic newspaper equated the initials with the strivings of the party to "make all things OK".

The Cockney OrlKorrec theory
The Times, in 1939, had an article reporting that it was of Cockney origin. The author remembered its use as an abbreviation for Orlkorrec when he was a boy in the late 19th century. However, this post-dates its first appearance by many years.

The French theory
During the American War of Independence, French sailors made "appointments" with American girlsauxquais (meaning when they were berthed at the quayside). This theory was put forward by Britain's Daily Express newspaper in 1940.

The Finish theory
The Fins have a word for correct, and it is oikea. In a 1940 article, someone at the Cleveland Public Library suggested that this may be the origin.

The British Parliament theory
The same source as the Cockney theory (The Times, in 1939) pointed out that some bills going through the House of Lords had to be read and approved by Lords Onslow and Kilbracken, and they each initialed them - producing the combined initials OK.

The Anglo-Saxon theory
Several centuries before its first appearance, Norwegian and Danish sailors used an Anglo-Saxon word, hogfor, which meant ready for sea. This was frequently shortened to HG, which in turn would have been pronounced hag-gay.

The Literary theory
Laurence Sterne was a British author of the 18th century, and in his book A Sentimental Journey, published in 1768, he uses the emphatic French form of yes: O qu-oui. In an anglicised pronunciation (oh-key), the phrase was used by some to express affirmation.

The Schoolmaster theory
In a letter in the Vancouver Sun, in 1935, it was pointed out that early schoolmasters would mark examination papers by adding the Latin Omnis Korrecta, which was sometimes abbreviated to OK.

The Ship-Builder theory
Early ship-builders would mark the timber they prepared, and the first to be laid was marked "OKNumber 1", meaning "outer keel No. 1".

The Telegraph theory
Early telegraph operators abbreviated everything, to reduce the amount of work needed. They would use GM for "Good Morning", GA for "Go Ahead" and so on. In 1935, Tatler, in the Observer, suggests that they also used OK. This doesn't stand up at all, as the telegraph post-dated the first written occurrence and it is almost certain, in my view, that they adopted OK rather than inventing it.

The Scottish theory
We've all heard the Scottish expression, och-aye. An author in the Nottingham Journal in 1943 suggests that OK is simply an adaptation of this expression. The Scottish expression derives from och, meaning an exclamation of surprise and aye meaning yes, and has been in existence since perhaps the 16th century.

The Old English theory
In early England, the last harvest loads brought in from the fields were known as hoacky or horkey. It was also the name given to harvest-home, which was the feast which followed the last loads brought in. The satisfactory completion of harvest was therefore known as hoacky, which was soon (at least according to an article in the Daily Telegraph in 1935) shortened to OK.

The Prussian theory
The Times printed a suggestion that the Prussian general, Schliessen (fighting for the American colonies during the War of Independence) was properly given the title OberstKommandant. All his orders were initialledOK. The Greek theory
Probably the earliest suggestion comes from the Greek. The two Greek letters omega and khi appear in a work called Geoponica in 920AD as being a magical incantation (when repeated twice) against fleas!

 The Railway theory
Obediah Kelly was an early railway freighter. He is known to have signed bills of lading with his initials, OK, and in railway circles OK came to mean that something had been authorised.

The War-Department (or cracker) theory
During the Civil War, the US War Department bought supplies of crackers from a company called Orrins-Kendall. Their initials appeared on the boxes, and as the crackers were of a particularly high standard, the letters OK became synonymous with "all right". This theory was originally put forward in a publication called Linguist, from the Horace Mann School for Boys in New York, although it has subsequently appeared in a number of other publications.

The multitudinous other theories
During 1840, American politicians used the term frequently, and dreamt up many absurd (and often pointed) origins. Out of Kash, out of kredit, out of klothes, all became identified with van Buren's campaign. And on the floor of the House of Representatives, a congressman from Illinois suggested it meant OrfulKalamity. Since 1840, many other explanations have been reported. The list above, although long and fanciful, is only the tip of the iceberg!

Spelling variations

Whether this word is printed as OK, okay, or O.K. is a matter normally resolved in the style manual for the publication involved. Dictionaries and style guides such as the Chicago Manual of Style and The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage provide no consensus.[31]

Usage.

Okay can mean "all right" or "satisfactory." For example, "I hope the children are okay" means "I hope the children are all right"; "I think I did OK in the exam" means "I think I did well, but not perfect, on the exam"; and "he is okay" means "he is good," or "he is well," depending on context.

Okay meaning "all right" can be used as the stand-alone question Okay?asking if there are any problems or confusion. This question can also be used as an informal greeting, as in "Okay, Jack?" equivalent to "How are you, Jack?"

Depending on context and inflection, okay can also imply mediocrity. Forexample: "Theconcertwasjustokay."

Okay can be used as an adjective or adverb: "He ran an OK race", "He did OK."

Okay can be used as an affirmative answer to a question or to express agreement with a statement, similar in both cases to "Yes."

Okay is sometimes used merely to acknowledge a question without giving an affirmation. For example: "You're going to give back the money that you stole, right?" "Okay."

Saying okay in a sarcastic or questioning tone or elongating the word can indicate that the person one is talking to is considered crazy and/or exasperatingly stubborn in their view. "I reallysaw a UFOlastnight!" "Okay..."

Okay!can also be used as an exclamation in place of words like "enough!" or "stop!"

Okay can be a noun or verb meaning approval. "Did you get the supervisor's okay?" "The boss okayed the proposal."

Okay has multiple uses in public speaking. As an interjection at the opening of a speech, lecture, or reading, okay is used to call for the audience's attention and to signal that the speaker is about to begin. Similarly, it can be used as a section break in the middle of speech to mark a shift in topic. Finally, okay can be used at the end of a speech, lecture, or explanation to request listener feedback, similar to "Are you with me?" or "Do you understand?" Based on context and convention, this usage can be seen as asking for various responses ranging from simple, silent headshaking or nodding to full, detailed questions or rebuttals.

When used in phone texting or short message system (SMS), "Okay" is occasionally truncated to a single "k".

International usage.

In Brazil and Mexico, as well as in other Latin American countries, the word is pronounced just as it is in English and is used very frequently. Although pronouncing it the same, Spanish speakers often spell the word "okey" to conform with the pronunciation rules of the language. In Brazil, it may be also pronounced as "ô-kei". In Portugal, it is used with its Portuguese pronunciation and sounds something like "ókâi" (similar to the English pronunciation but with the "ó" sounding like the "o" in "lost" or "top").

Arabic speakers also use the word (أوكي) widely, particularly in areas of former British occupation like Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, and Palestine but also all over the Arab world due to the prevalence of American cinema and television. It is pronounced just as it is in English but is very rarely seen in Arabic newspapers and formal media.

In Israel, the word okay is common as an equivalent to the Hebrew words בסדר [b'seder] ('in order') and טוב [tov] ('good'). It is written as it sounds in English אוקיי.

It is used in Japan and Korea in a somewhat restricted sense, fairly equivalent to "all right." Okay is often used in colloquial Japanese as a replacement for 大丈夫 (daijōbu "all right") or いい (ii "good") and often followed by です (desu — the copula).

In Chinese, the term "好" (hǎo; literally: "good"), can be modified to fit most of usages of okay. For example, "好了" (hao le) closely resembles the interjection usage of okay. The "了" indicates a change of state, in this case it indicates the achievement of consensus. Likewise, "OK" is commonly transformed into "OK了" (OK le) when communicating with foreigners or with fellow Cantonese speaking people in at least Hong Kong and possibly to an extent, other regions of China.[36] Other usages of Okay such as "I am okay" can be translated as "我还好." In Hong Kong, movies or dramas set in modern times use the term "ok" as part of the sprinkling of English included in otherwise Cantonese dialog. In Mandarin, it is also, somewhat humorously, used in the "spelling" of the word for karaoke, "卡拉OK," pronounced "kah-lah-oh-kei" (Mandarin does not natively have a syllable with the pronunciation "kei"). On the computer, okay is usually translated as "确定," which means "confirm" or "confirmed."

In Taiwan, it is frequently used in various sentences, popular among but not limited to younger generations. This includes the aforementioned "OK了" (Okay le), "OK嗎" (Okay ma), meaning "Is it okay?" or "OK啦" (Okay la), a strong, persuading affirmative, as well as the somewhat tongue-in-cheek explicit yes/no construction "O不OK?" (O bu Okay), "Is it okay or not?."

In the Philippines "okay lang" is a common expression, literally meaning "just okay" or "just fine." They also use it in sms but with the letter "k" only which means okay also.

In Malay, it is frequently used with the emphatic suffix "lah": OK-lah.

In Vietnamese, it is spelled "Ô kê"

In India it is often used after a sentence to mean "did you get it?", often not regarded politely, for example, "I want this job done, okay?" or at the end of a conversation (mostly on the phone) followed by "bye" as in, "Okay, bye."

In Nepal "thik cha" refers to as okay.

In Germany, it is spelled and pronounced in the same way as in English. The meaning ranges from acknowledgement to describing something neither good nor bad, same as in US/UK usage.

In Maldivian Okay is used in different ways, often used to agree with something, more often used while departing from a gathering "Okay Dahnee/Kendee".

Gesture

In the United States and much of Europe a related gesture is made by touching the index finger with the thumb (forming a rough circle) and raising of the remaining fingers.[37] It is not known whether the gesture is derived from the expression, or if the gesture appeared first.[37] Similar gestures have different meanings in other cultures.

The Meaning of the OK Hand Gesture around the World.

The OK hand gesture is one of the most common hand gestures. It is done by connecting the thumb and forefinger in to a circle and holding the other fingers straight or relaxed in the air. The most common interpretation of this sign is OK, but there are some countries where it may be an insult or where it will not be understood.

Let's have a look at different countries and what the OK sign means there:

Australia - Usually means ''zero'' rather than OK, not common.

Canada - OK, alright, good. You can use it to signify approval.

China - The OK sign is not used.

France - Zero, null.

Finland - military conscripts use the sign to signal that they have zero days left in the military service on their last day of the national service.

Germany - Job well done or grave insult, depends on region

Greece - OK (rarely used).

Ireland - OK.

Italy - OK.

Japan - The general meaning is money, for young people it means OK.

New Zealand - It's regarded as a cheesy way of saying OK. Not much used.

Russia - Many people would understand this as OK, but they don't use this sign.

Spain - OK.

Sweden - OK.

Turkey - Homosexual.

UnitedKingdom - OK.

Venezuela - Homosexual.

USA - OK, alright, good. You can use it to signify approval.

Please note that meaning of gestures varies among various parts of countries and also among cultural groups and between generations.

Computers.

A typical modal dialog box with prominent OK button

A Facebook modal dialog box using the spelling Okay

OK is used to label buttons in modal dialog boxes such as error messages or print dialogs, indicating that the user must press the button to accept the contents of the dialog box and continue. It is often placed next to a Cancel button which allows the user to dismiss the dialog box without accepting its contents. When a modal dialog box contains only one button, it is almost always labeled "OK" by convention and default. In this usage, it is usually rendered to the screen in upper case without punctuation: OK, rather than O.K., Okay, or Ok. The OK button can probably be traced to user interface research done for the Apple Lisa.[38] However, modern user interface guidelines prefer to avoid modal dialog boxes if possible, and use more specific verbs, such as Continue, to label their action buttons instead of the generic OK.[39]

PLATO normally responded to user input with ok or no

PRIMOS, the operating system that ran on Prime computers, had a command interpreter which would print OK to indicate a command could be entered. On the Radio ShackTRS-80 ColorComputer(1980), there was an OK> prompt, which indicated that the Color Computer was ready to accept commands. Many IBM PC compatible computers from the 1980s onwards performed a memory check during start-up. A counter showed the verified memory during the operation, sometimes suffixed with OK.

Some programming language interpreters such as BASIC and Forth print ok when ready to accept input from the keyboard.This ok prompt is used on Sun, Apple, and other computers with the Forth-based Open Firmware (OpenBoot). The appearance of ok in inappropriate contexts on these systems is the subject of some humor.[40]

Some Linuxdistributions, including those based on Red Hat, display boot progress on successive lines on-screen which include [ OK ].

Conclusion.

I decided to ask my classmates’ opinion about the word ‘ok’ and the results were the following:

72%  -always use ‘ok’ in their speech

28% - sometimesuse‘ok’ in their speech

51%  -use ‘ok’ in computers

42% -use ‘ok’ among their friends

7% -use ‘ok’ in their families

100%- think that ‘ok’ came from the English language

100% -can show the ‘ok’ gesture

Working on this topic I’ve come to conclusion that nobody knows the exact origin of the word "okay"

Despite all the theories of it’s origin I think this word remains the most popular in the world for many years.Nowadays it is difficult to imagine our conversation without “OK”. I enjoyed working on this topic. It was exciting and interesting for me because I have found a lot of useful information, a lot of fascinating websites and I have learned much about this word. And, of course, I will share this information with my friends.  It is so short in spelling and so rich in meaning and usage.

Reference material.

1.  George W. Stimpson. (1934) "Nuggets Of Knowledge"
2.  Heflin, Woodford A. (1941) "'O. K.', But What Do We Know about It?".AmericanSpeech,16 (2), 90.
3.  Wait, William Bell (1941) "Richardson's 'O. K.' of 1815". AmericanSpeech, 16 (2), 86–136.
4.  Mencken, H.L. (1956) The American language; an inquiry into the development of English in the United States.p.275.
5. "OK". Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/okay. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
6. Read, Allen Walker (February 1964). "The Folklore of "O. K."". American Speech (Duke University Press) (1): 5–25. doi:10.2307/453922. http://www.jstor.org/stable/453922. 
7. Read, Allen W. (1963) The first stage in the history of "O.K.". American Speech, 38 (1), 5–27.
8.  Read, Allen W. (1963). The second stage in the history of "O.K.". AmericanSpeech, 38 (2), 83–102.
9. Read, Allen W. (1963). Could Andrew Jackson spell?.AmericanSpeech, 38 (3), 188–195.
10. Read, Allen W. (1964). The folklore of "O.K.". AmericanSpeech, 39 (1), 5–25.
11.  Read, Allen W. (1964). Successive revisions in the explanation of "O.K.". AmericanSpeech, 39 (4), 243–267.
12. Fay, Jim. "In a Nutshell: The Etymology of "OK"". http://www.illinoisprairie.info/NutshellOK.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
13.  Cecil Adams, What does "OK" stand for?
14.  Read, A.W. (1941, July 19). "The Evidence on 'O.K.'," Saturday Review of Literature.
15. Heflin, W.A. (1962). 'O.K.' and its incorrect etymology. AmericanSpeech, 37 (4).
16. Allan Metcalf (18 February 2011). "How 'OK' took over the world". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12503686. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
17. Read, "Successive Revisions," 257.
18. Read, "SecondStage," 102.
19. Boice, Judith (2007) Menopause with Science and Soul: A Guidebook for Navigating the Journey, 52.
20. Belmond, C. A. (2008) A Rather Curious Engagement, 38.
21.  Lighter, Jonathon, (1994). The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, 708.
22. J. F. D. Smyth. (1784) A Tour in the United States of America (London, 1784), 1:118–21
23. David Dalby (Readerin West African Languages, SOAS, U of London). (1971) "The Etymology of O.K.," The Times, 14 January 1971
24. "I'm OK, you're okay". Grammarphobia. 2008-09-11. http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/09/im-ok-youre-okay.html. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
25. "Okeh as variant spelling of "okay"". Thefreedictionary.com. 1928-06-28. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/okeh. Retrieved 2011-06-12.

PLAN

1. Introduction.
2. The main body

1. Etymology.
2. Spelling variations.
3. Usage.
4. Gesture.
5. Computers.

3. Conclusion.
4. Reference material.

Министерство образования республики Башкортостан

Муниципальное общеобразовательное бюджетное учреждение

средняя общеобразовательная школа № 1

муниципального района Мелеузовский район

Научно-исследовательская работа

по английскому языку на тему:

«The Most Recognized Word in the World»

Выполнила: Криваконева

Татьяна Ивановна

обучающаяся 7А класса

МОБУ СОШ №1

Проверила: Трофимова

Людмила Анатольевна

учитель английского языка

МОБУ СОШ №1

Мелеуз 2012