# Happy OK Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704 "2021-03-25T16:17:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/1 "2021-03-25T16:17:31Z")
Saw this on Japanese TV this morning, so maybe it’s actually tomorrow. It commemorates the day when the term “OK” first appeared in print, in a newspaper in Boston, 182 years ago, as an abbreviation for “Oll Korrect.” I guess this etymology is now mainstream, if it’s showing up on Japanese TV as a thing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/2 "2021-03-25T16:45:13Z")
[history.com/this-day-in-history/ok-enters-national-vernacular](http://history.com/this-day-in-history/ok-enters-national-vernacular) So 2 days ago and the rest checks out. I never really thought about, but I wouldn’t have guessed it was that old. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/3 "2021-03-25T16:53:23Z")
Huh, the origin I heard growing up was that it was from [Ol’ Kinderhook](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5170008#:~:text=Martin%20Van%20Buren%20Was%20OK%20OK%20is%20an%20idiom%20that,it%20took%20off%20from%20there.). It seems there is some belief in that origin still. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/4 "2021-03-25T17:03:19Z")
Read the other article and it sounds like that was just one of many misconceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/5 "2021-03-25T17:08:39Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Huh, the origin I heard growing up was that it was from [Ol’ Kinderhook](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5170008#:~:text=Martin%20Van%20Buren%20Was%20OK%20OK%20is%20an%20idiom%20that,it%20took%20off%20from%20there.). It seems there is some belief in that origin still. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Read the other article and it sounds like that was just one of many misconceptions. Yeah, “Ol[d] Kinderhook” wasn’t the origin, but it did help “OK” to gain popularity. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/6 "2021-03-25T19:51:57Z")
[Cecil told us so in 1985](https://www.straightdope.com/21341673/what-does-ok-stand-for). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/7 "2021-03-25T19:58:52Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Saw this on Japanese TV this morning, so maybe it’s actually tomorrow. Small aside-I once asked my grandfather if Japan was a day ahead of us or a day behind, and he replied “That depends on whether turn east or turn west to go there.” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-ok-day/938704/8 "2021-03-25T22:47:11Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Cecil told us so in 1985](https://www.straightdope.com/21341673/what-does-ok-stand-for). So he did, but he didn’t tell us the exact date of which to celebrate the anniversary. Now we know.