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OKAY<br><br>Voice of America, Washington DC 1978<br><br><br>The word "okay" is known and used by millions <br>of people all over the world. Still, language <br>experts do not agree on where it came from.<br>Some say it came from the Indian peoples. When<br>Europeans first came to the Americas they <br>heard hundreds of different Indian languages. <br>Many were well developed.<br>One tribe especially had a well developed language. <br>This was the Choctaw tribe. They were <br>farmers and fishermen who lived in the rich <br>Mississippi valley in what is now the state of <br>Alabama. When problems arose, Choctaw leaders <br>discussed them with the tribal chief. They sat in <br>a circle and listened to the wisdom of the chief.<br>He heard the different proposals, often raising<br>and lowering his head in agreement, and saying, <br>"Okeh," meaning "It is so."<br>The Indian languages have given many words to <br>English. Twenty four of the American states----almost <br>half ----have Indian names----Oklahoma, the Dakotas, <br>Idaho, Wisconsin, Ohio and <br>Tennessee, to name a few. And the names of many rivers, <br>streams, mountains, cities and towns are Indian.<br>Nevertheless, there are many who dispute the idea <br>that "okay" cam from the Indians. Some <br>say that President Andrew Jackson first used the <br>word "okay." Others claim the word was invented <br>by John Jacob Astor, a fur trader of the late <br>1700's who became one of the world's richest men. <br>Still others say a poor railroad clerk make up <br>this word. His name was Obadiah Kelly and he put <br>his initials, O.K., on each package people gave <br>him to ship by train.<br>So it goes; each story sounds reasonable and official.<br>But perhaps the most believable explanation is <br>that the word "okay" was invented by a <br>political organization in the 1800's.<br>Martin Van Buren was running for President. A <br>group of people organized a club to support <br>him. They called their political organization <br>the "Okay Club." The letters "o" and 'k" were taken <br>from the name of Van Buren's home town, the place <br>where he was born, Old Kinderhook, New York.<br>There is one thing about "okay" that the experts <br>do agree on: that the word is pure American <br>and that it has spread to almost every country on earth.<br>There is something about the word that appeals to <br>peoples of every language. Yet, here in <br>America it is used mostly in speech, not in serious <br>writing. Serious writers would rather use <br>"agree," "assent," "approve," "confirm" and so on.<br>In recent times, "okay" has been given an official <br>place in the English language.<br>But it will be a long time before Americans will <br>officially accept two expressions that come <br>from "okay." These are "oke" and "okeydoke."<br> |
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