# What did people say before "okay" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347 "2011-05-26T20:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/21 "2011-05-27T00:42:08Z")
As kids in the late 60s / early 70s we were told “Don’t say OK, it’s rude.” So you generally responded with many other appropriate words. Did that answer your question OK? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/22 "2011-05-27T01:05:27Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > At Renaissance Faire language classes, we’re told to substitute “Well enough” (Prononuced “Well Enow”) for “OK.” Here’s what OED says: > [@](#): > > Enow, adj. and adv. > > Etymology: The forms of enough adj. and adv. and enow cannot always be discriminated with certainty, as the phonetic value of the Middle English and early mod. ȝ, gh, was not uniform. The same graphic form, indeed, may sometimes represent two different pronunciations, one belonging to each series. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/23 "2011-05-27T01:37:52Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Is there anything “ok” does that “all right” doesn’t? Unlike all right, it’s used as a verb and noun, but if it were suddenly banned, people could easily start to use “all right” in those ways, too. The most frequent use of “okay” is as a discourse marker, to stop negotiation of a topic and initiate a new proposition. A: _So let’s have the government start by setting an example_. [proposal] B: _Okay. So what you are saying, it isn’t one way or another_. [assessment of proposal] In this usage, by far the most common, it doesn’t mean “yes,” or “I agree.” It just means, “I’m ending the proposal, and now I’m going to do something with it.” _All right_ is used pretty much in the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/24 "2011-05-27T01:41:41Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Unlike all right, it’s used as a verb and noun, but if it were suddenly banned, people could easily start to use “all right” in those ways, too. Yeah, good point. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/25 "2011-05-27T04:48:10Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Is there anything “ok” does that “all right” doesn’t? > > (Particularly given that “ok” is supposed to have come from “oll korrect” [is that still the accepted etymology? It sounds so crazy…], which is almost the same phrase as “all right”) Yes it is the accepted etymology, but it wasn’t coined by an illiterate President. From the Master: > **[What does “OK” stand for?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341673/what-does-ok-stand-for)** ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/26 "2011-05-27T05:24:14Z")
23-skidoo! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/27 "2011-05-28T04:31:28Z")
Very well? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/28 "2011-05-28T04:40:54Z")
Ayup? ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/29 "2011-05-28T05:11:18Z")
Fuckin’ A ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/30 "2011-05-28T11:02:56Z")
Incidentally, here is a list of all the articles by Allen Walker Read published in _American Speech_: [Allen - Search Results](http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Allen) Walker Read issn:0003-1283&qt=owc\_search\_art&fq=dt:art If anyone is interested in reading the six articles (from 1963 and 1964) in which he explains the origin of “O.K.”, you can find them listed there. I’m not sure how you would then go about getting hold of those articles though. I assume that you would have to go to a university library with all the back issues of _American Speech_ (on microfilm or some such). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/31 "2011-05-28T12:27:19Z")
That’s the fact, Jack! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/32 "2011-05-28T13:02:28Z")
Amen to that. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/33 "2011-05-28T13:24:22Z")
“Right on” “Boss” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-people-say-before-okay/583347/34 "2011-05-28T15:08:25Z")
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