OK- Continued...

[poliphilo]

steepholm has done some digging. The first appearance of "OK" in a British publication (the Boy's Own Magazine) is dated 1864. On the principle that a phrase is likely to have been current in conversation for 10 years before it first turns up in print we can assume that Brits have been saying "OK" since the 1850s.

On this first appearance the phrase is attributed to the (probably fictional) Sir William Curtis and is glossed as meaning "orl korrect". In its second appearance the following year it is explained as common usage among surveyors. This need for explanation suggests it was still relatively unfamiliar.

So, my question has been answered. It is not impossible that a Derbyshire hill farmer would have been saying it in 1916.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No, it goes back beyond that. The origins may be Lakota or West African or even Scottish (Och aye isn't so far from OK) The politician Martin Van Buren was know as OK for reasons I recently researched but now forget.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Ah, so that's the origin of that origin? "Orl korrect" always sounded rather fishy, so perhaps it was indeed made from whole cloth after all, perhaps based simply on having a simple, catchy sound.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

A number of cultures have phrases that sound a lot like OK. All or none of them could be the source. At this late stage I don't suppose we'll ever know.

Sir William Curtis and 'OK'

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, not sure if you are suggesting that Sir William Curtis is fictional, but if so then I can assure you he was certainly not. He was a great friend of the Prince Regent, Lord Mayor of London, and an ancestor of mine.

Re: Sir William Curtis and 'OK'

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. I'd formed the impression- from the context- that Sir William was probably fictitious, but it was only a guess. It's good to know otherwise.