# Ok

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok/217017>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 4, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok/217017 "2003-12-04T20:52:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![purplefeltangel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@purplefeltangel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplefeltangel)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok/217017/1 "2003-12-04T20:52:35Z")

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[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_250](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_250)

It is my belief that this column . . . is WRONG!! “OK” is not an acronym, but a stupid person’s abbreviation of the word “okay”, which derives from two French words – “au quay”, meaning “to the dock”. This was heard by English speakers when French sailors would be unloading heavy crates from ships. Unfortunately, I can’t cite this for you, because I learnt it in French class, but I’ll try to find some websites or other resources supporting this ASAP.

~Elizabeth

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**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok/217017/2 "2003-12-04T21:49:07Z")

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Welcome to the Straight Dope, **purplefeltangel**. You may have missed it, but **Cecil** specifically mentions your etymological interpretation (and calls it “knuckleheaded”, but that’s just his style) in his column:

> [@](#):
>
> As time went on, though, people forgot about the abbreviation fad and Old Kinderhook and began manufacturing their own etymologies. Here’s a sampling:  
> […]  
> (5) It comes from Aux Cayes, already discussed. A variant is that it comes from the French au quai, “to the dock,” said of cotton that had been approved for loading on a ship.

However, this, and the other proffered explanations he mentions, are spurious. In fact, it appears that Read’s explanation (that “OK” comes from “oll korrect”) is pretty widely accepted; other possible explanations lack supporting documentation.

> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by bibliophage in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=155568)_  
> If the “oll korrect” origin has been discredited, nobody bothered to inform any of these generally reliable etymology websites:
> 
> [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordoro.htm](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordoro.htm)  
> [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-oka1.htm](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-oka1.htm)  
> [http://www.word-detective.com/back-q.html#ok](http://www.word-detective.com/back-q.html#ok)  
> [http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991020](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19991020)  
> [http://www.takeourword.com/et\_n-p.html#OK](http://www.takeourword.com/et_n-p.html#OK)