OK comes from Choctaw or a military report of zero killed
| OK comes from Choctaw or a military report of zero killed | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| ""OK" comes from the Choctaw word "okeh," from "0 killed" in Civil War reports, or from other sources such as Old Kinderhook." | |
| Domain | Language, Folklore & Urban Legends |
| Tactic | Fabrication |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 19th century |
| Origin | Competing popular etymologies circulating since the 19th century |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-29 |
| Further reading: books on Language, Folklore & Urban Legends | |
OK is one of the most widely used words in the world, and many stories have been told about its origin. Linguist Allen Walker Read showed in the 1960s that it began as a joke abbreviation in Boston newspapers. In 1839, writers were fashionable for misspelled abbreviations, and "O.K." stood for "oll korrect," a humorous spelling of "all correct." Its use spread with Martin Van Buren's 1840 campaign, whose supporters called him "Old Kinderhook."
The claim
Popular theories include Choctaw, Wolof, Scots, Greek and military "zero killed" origins.
What the evidence shows
- First use. The earliest known use appears in the Boston Morning Post on March 23, 1839.
- Fad. Other joke abbreviations of the time included "O.W." for "oll wright."
- Old Kinderhook. The 1840 campaign reinforced the term but did not create it.
Sources
- Allen Walker Read, "The First Stage in the History of 'O.K.'," American Speech 38, no. 1 (1963).
- Allan Metcalf, OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word (Oxford University Press, 2011).