The beer meeting of the bloody Greeks!

Elpizw na se kalypsw...

Word History: OK is a quintessentially American term that has spread from English to many other languages. Its origin was the subject of scholarly debate for many years until Allen Walker Read showed that OK is based on a joke of sorts. OK is first recorded in 1839 but was probably in circulation before that date. During the 1830s there was a humoristic fashion in Boston newspapers to reduce a phrase to initials and supply an explanation in parentheses. Sometimes the abbreviations were misspelled to add to the humor. OK was used in March 1839 as an abbreviation for all correct, the joke being that neither the O nor the K was correct. Originally spelled with periods, this term outlived most similar abbreviations owing to its use in President Martin Van Buren's 1840 campaign for reelection. Because he was born in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren was nicknamed Old Kinderhook, and the abbreviation proved eminently suitable for political slogans. That same year, an editorial referring to the receipt of a pin with the slogan O.K. had this comment: ?frightful letters... significant of the birth-place of Martin Van Buren, old Kinderhook, as also the rallying word of the Democracy of the late election, ?all correct?.... Those who wear them should bear in mind that it will require their most strenuous exertions... to make all things O.K.?

 

Borei na 'nai ki Elliniko file mou, borei na 'nai ki Elliniko...

There are several theories. But the one that seems to be correct is that at one time it was a fad to use abbreviations for deliberate misspellings:

O.K. stands for "all correct" or the illiterate phrase "Orl Korrect."

Here (from the archives) is the complete list plus information on the "author" of the above theory, Professor Read.

"Devious Derivations: Popular Misconceptions -- and More than 1,000 True Origins of Common Words and Phrases" by Hugh Rawson (toExcel, Iuniverse.com, 1994, 2000). This reference has some new information on the origins listed here (new information in parenthesis), new origins and what could be the actual origin.

1.} Orrin Kendall biscuits, which soldiers ate during the Civil War.
2.} Short for Aux Cayes, a Haitian port that American sailors praised for its rum.
3.} Old Keokuk, a Native American tribal chief who was said to have signed treaties with his initials.
4.} O.K. stands for "all correct" or the illiterate phrase "Orl Korrect."
5.} U.S. President Martin Van Buren's nickname "Old Kinderhook" -- O.K. for short. He was a native of Kinderhook, N.Y..
6.} Choctaw word "okeh," (or "hoke") meaning "indeed" --or "It is so."--.
7.} Scottish "auch aye", meaning "ah yes." (Or "och aye," meaning "okay.").
8.} From the French maritime phrase "au quai" meaning "at dock", and therefore at last safe from the ravages of the open sea.
9.} '0 killed' - the report of the night's death toll during the First World War.
10.} All clear after the shoot-out at O.K. Corral.
11.} Instruments calibrated at an Observatory at Kew had, affixed to them, a stamp, or impression, to authenticate that calibration. This stamp was O. K. - Observatory Kew.

New origins from Mr. Rawson's book:

12.} The abbreviation is for Oberst Kommandant, German for "Colonel in Command," used by either -- take your pick -- a General Schliessen or Baron von Steuben when initialing letters and orders during the American Revolution.
13.} It comes from the name of a freight agent, Obadiah Kelly, whose initials were widely disseminated on bills of lading.
14.} The abbreviation is for Open Key, popularized by telegraphers in the 1860s.
15.} It comes from the names of Lords Onslow and Kilbracken, who initialed bills after they were read and approved in England's House of Lords.
16.} From a misreading of "Order Recorded" on official documents.
17.} Or from Finnish "oikea," correct.
18.} From the Greek "ola," all, plus "Kalla," good.

Professor Allen Walker Read of Columbia University, "finally unveiled its (O.K.'s) origins in a series of magisterial articles in 'American Speech' in 1963 and 1964.What Professor Read discovered was that the abbreviation arose in a humorous manner at a time when Americans were indulging in a great deal of wordplay, including abbreviations, acronyms, puns and intentional mispronunciations and misspellings. The earliest example of O.K. that he unearthed (and it is so far still the oldest known specimen) is from the Boston 'Morning Post' of March 23, 1839. It appears in connection with a note by the paper's editor, Charles Gordon Greene, about a visit to New York of some members of the local Anti-Bell-Ringing Society. (The A.B.R.S., as it was usually known, was itself something of a joke, having been formed the previous year to oppose -- its name to the contrary -- an ordinance of the Boston Common Council against ringing dinner bells.) In an aside, Mr. Greene suggested that if the Bostonians were to return home via Providence, they might be greeted by one of his rivals, the editor of that city's 'Journal,' who 'would have the 'contribution box,' et ceteras, o.k. -- all correct -- and cause the corks to fly, like sparks, upward.'.Thus, it appears that O.K. was invented, possibly by Greene, as an abbreviation of the jocular 'Oll' or perhaps 'Orl korrect,' meaning "All right.' This explanation would seem farfetched, except for Read's finding that it dovetails with such coinages of the period as O.W. for 'All R

 

Den apokleietai, alla parousiazetai ws to least likely endexomeno...

 

E egw pali to No. 4 den to polypistevw. Orl Korrect? Old Kinderhook? Oh, come on now!

 

Omologoumenos pote den perase apo to myalo mou pws mia apli aporia mou apotelouse kai filologiko zitima.

 

So, it has been arranged then.17:00 at the Anw Patissia Subway Station...Gentlemen, try to be punctual...

 

Worry not my friend, there I will be.

 

K gia na eimaste k sigouroi,mazefteite oloi apo ti meria PROS KIFISSIA k pigainte mprosta mprosta stin apovathra,ok?
PS: Tha pao telika sto War of the World stis 20.30 sta Ster.Poios psinetai na erthei mazi?I tha apofasisoume ekei?

 

Simera, Paraskevi? Ma den eipame 21.30 na pame? Telws pandwn, o,ti goustarete, vlepoume ekei, pros Kifissia stis pende oloi kai to kanonizoume, Ola Kala? Orl Korrect?

 

Nai more,araxte,ola tha ta vroumee!!!

 

Ola Kala.

 

O.K. Corral loipon, Old Kinderhook...

 

Obiwan Kenobi.

I rest my case

 

w00t!

 

WOW!We made it to the news guys!We're all FF Superstars now!***k yeah!

 

YEAH!!! Now we're F.F. superstars! Kai tha kanoume kai Syllogo! Kai tha ginoume ki episima diasimoi!

 

Our destiny is fulfilled...

 

Not if we do not work hard...

 

Hey, what happened to my name?

 

The cat must have eaten it...

 

Here we go again... Beer meeting, on Friday (which is tomorrow... )Apart from getting together and getting plastered, I believe that it is our common goal to steadily increase our numbers... In short, EVERYBODY must attend tomorrow's meeting! Spread the word people! Last time we made it to the FF Europe News, this time it'll be CBS, NBC, and eventually... the Skywalker Ranch!

 

Anakoinwste kai sto episimo parakalw. Ki edw.

 

Avrio Paraskevi 8 Iouliou stin byraria sto Koukaki pou eichame xanapaei, stis 18.00 ston stathmo Metro Siggrou-Fix, opws kai tin proigoumeni fora. O.K.? What say you?

 

Loipon,ego mesa gia avrio,lete pali Koukaki?No problem apo mena,exei Desperados,the best freaking beer ever!Peite ora mono na to oristikopoiisoume.Kata tis 18.00 pali stin Siggrou-Fix?Peite,eiste mesa?
PS:Starkeiller,mou xrostas kati fragka apo to War of the orlds...OLOI xrostane ston Tzouveleki!

 

Den to xechasa, Tzouveleki... OLOUS tous xeplirwnei o Mainas!

O.K. then?

And Guinness is the best beer ever!