When writing a sentence, should you write ok or okay?
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2-08-02, 01:05 PM
Monsterquizzer
The 'OK' version certainly seems to have been the original, appearing first in 1839. The 'written-out' version, 'okay', did not appear until about 80 years later. However, I should think both are equally acceptable nowadays.

12-08-02, 01:12 PM
babthrower
It's slang. It doesn't matter how you spell it. In formal writing, it's only used inside of quotation marks.

The folk etymology of the word is that it started out as a joke. Somewhere in England during World War II boxes of ammunition had to be checked and chalk-marked if the contents were complete. It was usual to use a 'c' for correct (which evolved into the tick-mark).

Some joker wrote 'ok' on his. He didn't like the 'c' mark because it just looked like a chalk smear when done carelessly. When someone asked what it stood for, he said 'all correct'. (Limey accent 'oll correct'.)

"But correct is not spelled with a k,!"

"Right. And all is not spelled with an 'o'."

See, you have to realize, it was very, very boring work...

Or maybe it happened in World War I. Or the Napoleonic Wars. But OK is the best spelling, because they didn't use periods on the ammunition boxes.

12-08-02, 01:34 PM
Minnesota
babs

I am curious as to where you have heard that the term should be in quotation marks. The four references I have at hand do not mention these marks at all.

Puppy

That aside, these are their remarks on the issue.

"OK, O.K., okay All three are acceptable spellings. However, a more specific word usually replaces OK in formal context."

"The abbreviation OK is written without periods. In sentences, the forms okay, okayed, and okaying look better than OK, OK'd, and OK'ing, but the latter forms may be used."

"OK, O.K., okay All three spellings are acceptable, but in formal speech and writing avoid these colloquial expressions for consent or approval."

12-08-02, 01:38 PM
Leppi
If you look on a box of cereal or other items of food you will sometimes see a K with a circle around it. This is to signify that the food item is kosher. The K standing for Kosher. The actuall reason the person thought about it, Is that the circle around it should stand for an O, therefore making it an OK, as in OK to eat the food, it is kosher.
-yafa

12-08-02, 02:11 PM
puppyblues
Thank you very much!!! big grin big grin big grin

12-08-02, 03:04 PM
babthrower
Hi Minnesota:

When I said that the forms would only be used in quotation marks in formal writing, this is what I meant:

If a scientist writes:

"If the experiments bear out the hypothesis it may come to be regarded as a theory or law of nature," that is correct usage.

But if the scientist writes:

"If the experiments turn out okay, it may come to be regarded as a theory or law of nature," then the usage is not correct, because it includes a slang expression, which is not suitable for formal writing.

However, even Shaw, master stylist that he was, can correctly write:

He: "The greatest of evils and the worst of crimes is poverty. Our first duty is not to be poor."

She: "Okay."

He's quoting someone speaking colloquially; he's not using the term himself in the formal writing that is part of his literary work.

(By the way, I've misquoted Shaw above, in order to make an example.)

12-08-02, 03:57 PM
maiku
In short, it is acceptable to mention "OK" in formal writing, but not to use it. smile

12-08-02, 04:15 PM
Ewood27
Just don't inhale.

12-08-02, 04:53 PM
babthrower
That's it! Just think about it the way you think about illicit sex. It's ok to talk about it, or show that other people do it, but you shouldn't do it yourself.

12-11-02, 03:11 PM
blam
Well I heard it was a native American word originally!!! It's one of the most used words around the world, apparently it's used in allsorts of different languages, I've heard Spaniards talking and throwing in the odd "OK".

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