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From: rwl@uvacs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d,net.nlang
Subject: Re: Origin of Words
Message-ID: <1541@uvacs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Sep-84 21:01:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: uvacs.1541
Posted: Thu Sep 27 21:01:48 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 30-Sep-84 04:08:11 EDT
Lines: 37

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> > 	In medieval Normandy, Monks concerned with loading boats
> > 	at the docks would reassure their superiors when all of the
> > 	materials were on the dock and ready to load, that is:
> > 	"Au Quais".  This expression (which sounds about the same as
> > 	"okay") entered English via french-Creole speakers in
> > 	New Orleans.
>
> According to my high school German teacher, the word OK comes from
> the name of an inspector in a VW plant, Otto K???, who wrote his
> initials on each car that passed inspection.  Of course, I don't have
> any definitive references either.


I'm suprised that nobody's just gone to the dictionary for this.  Mine
at home (Webster's 7th Collegiate, I think) has this to say about 'OK'...

   OK, O.K. (...) adj., adv., interj.  [orig.  U.S.  colloq.: first
         known  use (March 23, 1839) by C.G. Greene, editor, in the
         Boston _Morning_Post_, as if abbrev.  for  "oll  korrect",
         facetious  misspelling of _all_correct_ (cf. _Am._Speech_,
         Vol. XXXVIII, No. 1): popularized by use in name of  Demo-
         cratic    _O.K._    Club    (1840),    in    allusion   to
         _Old_Kinderhook_, native village of Martin Van Buren, whom
         the club supported for a 2d term ]

Now.  Since that's out of the way, everybody can get back to arguing.  OK?

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Ray Lubinsky
University of Virginia
uucp: decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!rwl
usmail: ...get serious, who mails anything these days?

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