On the origins of OK

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If you’re a french speaker you will probably remember that scene from Les Visiteurs where they say “OK” over and over again. You might also remember it from films like “The Right Stuff” when they speak about things being a-ok. The history of the word dates back to the 1800s when people would say “all correct”, then “all Korrect” and because they liked abbreviations it eventually became OK.

Knowing this has no effect on the quality of our lives but it is nonetheless amusing since it has moved from English through two or three centuries and across languages so that “ok” is recognised in many languages. It is also how we agree to installs for certain applications and programs.