# Why is "okay" the world's most popular word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395 "2011-08-28T16:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/21 "2011-08-29T01:41:45Z")
I’m going to go against the grain here and suggest that maybe there is something about the semantics of the word itself. The funny thing about OK is that it implies virtually nothing. It’s a way of saying “fine” or “affirmative” but it doesn’t imply that something is good or bad or what my feeling is about it. Perhaps the word filled a need in more than just English? My IANA-linguist, super WAG, is that languages tend to put words to passionate / interested sentiments first, and tend to lack neutral words. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/22 "2011-08-29T02:16:05Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Now, if “Okay/OK” is #1, what’s #2? I heard it’s Taxi, which has been adopted into most current languages. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/23 "2011-08-29T02:48:58Z")
Are there many uses of “okay” which “all right” cannot serve for as well? (I’m not trying to argue against “okay” or any such silly thing; I’m just trying to see where the idea that “okay” fills a gap which would otherwise be unaddressed comes from and how accurate it is) ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/24 "2011-08-29T03:19:31Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Now, if “Okay/OK” is #1, what’s #2? Coca-Cola. That’s why they created the failed OK Soda – because it was the only word that beat their brand name in international recognition. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/25 "2011-08-29T03:36:40Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’m going to go against the grain here and suggest that maybe there is something about the semantics of the word itself. > > The funny thing about OK is that it implies virtually nothing. It’s a way of saying “fine” or “affirmative” but it doesn’t imply that something is good or bad or what my feeling is about it. > > Perhaps the word filled a need in more than just English? My IANA-linguist, super WAG, is that languages tend to put words to passionate / interested sentiments first, and tend to lack neutral words. That’s a really astute observation (though I’m not sure about languages generally lacking neutral words). The semantics (in English) of _OK_ do imply a minimum of commitment in most contexts today, and from what I’ve heard in other countries, it’s pretty similar there, too. Other languages, though–as far as I know–don’t employ it as a discourse marker as English does, for which the “neutral” quality serves well. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/26 "2011-08-29T03:43:59Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Are there many uses of “okay” which “all right” cannot serve for as well? (I’m not trying to argue against “okay” or any such silly thing; I’m just trying to see where the idea that “okay” fills a gap which would otherwise be unaddressed comes from and how accurate it is) Not many–and I think there was a previous thread about _okay_ in which this exact question was addressed. But, for this reason, I believe the phonology of okay has contributed to its spread into other languages, as opposed to _all right_. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/27 "2011-08-29T03:45:03Z")
Cecil discusses [the US etymology of the phrase ok](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/503/what-does-ok-stand-for), though he doesn’t address the OP. > [@RickJay](#): > > “Tea” would actually be a pretty popular one, for instance. “Tea” is originally Chinese (not Mandarin) but that word or very close equivalents are used to describe that particular drink in many languages. Isn’t chai more prevalent than tea? ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/28 "2011-08-29T08:11:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The English word “okay,” or “OK,” which has a variety of meanings centring around "Good " or “Acceptable,” is very likely the world’s most popular word. You need to first prove that it actually is the worlds most popular word before you can ask why, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/29 "2011-08-29T08:40:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In my experience very common in Spanish, and scarcely regarded as a foriegn word. It’s usually spelled _chao_. There is a difference between chao and ciao, though, or between the usage in Italian and in Spanish: in Spanish we use it only to mean “goodbye”, in Italian it means both. It takes a while to being used to getting greeted with “ciao”, if you’re a Hispanic in Italy - at first, your reaction to it is “why is this person telling me ‘goodbye’? We’re just getting to meet each other now!” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/30 "2011-08-29T09:51:42Z")
In terms of the second most popular word, I’d suggest “Amen”, a Hebrew word used thoughout the Christian and Muslim worlds. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/31 "2011-08-29T12:21:51Z")
In one of the reviews of Metcalf’s book, the reviewer mentioned the invention of the telegraph in spreading the use of **OK**. I know it was used in the US and Britain that way since the mid-1800s. Was it also used by other countries in telegraphy? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/32 "2011-08-29T14:18:18Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Okay, so what does he say is the reason? I couldn’t get through it. I didn’t say it was a _well-written_ book. In fact, it was NG. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/33 "2011-08-29T14:18:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The English word “okay,” or “OK,” which has a variety of meanings centring around "Good " or “Acceptable,” is very likely the world’s most popular word. Is the preference for “okay” vs. “OK” split along cultural/geographic lines? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/34 "2011-08-29T14:39:58Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Is the preference for “okay” vs. “OK” split along cultural/geographic lines? I would expect it to be split along language lines at the very least. In most languages, the letter group “OK” would not be spelled in a way which sounds like “okay”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/35 "2011-08-29T14:43:55Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Is the preference for “okay” vs. “OK” split along cultural/geographic lines? > [@Nava](#): > > I would expect it to be split along language lines at the very least. In most languages, the letter group “OK” would not be spelled in a way which sounds like “okay”. Interesting! Wonder if it’s even pronounced “ock” in some places. What other pronunciations are there? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/36 "2011-08-29T14:46:11Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Interesting! Wonder if it’s even pronounced “ock” in some places. What other pronunciations are there? Uh, in the languages I’m familiar with, what we do is say okay (well, if I was to spell it using Spanish phonics, _okéi_). I’ve heard people say o-ka, with a short stop between both letters to make it clear they were spelling and not saying _oca_ (which means goose), but it was as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/37 "2011-08-29T15:06:07Z")
> [@charmstr](#): > > Italian We got it from Italian, but Italian got it from a different language: Venetian. From the Venetian phrase _sciào vostro_, ‘(I am) your slave’, which was a conventional polite expression centuries ago that you would say to be polite to anyone. Kind of like 18th-century letter writing in English, where it was conventional to sign off with expressions like “(I am) your obedient servant.” The nearest analogy in contemporary English is “If there is anything I can do for you…” uttered as a conventional courtesy without much expectation of the offer actually being taken up. The original Venetian pronunciation of the word for slave was /stʃao/, but Italian doesn’t allow that initial consonant cluster, so it got simplified. _Chāy_ is the Persian word for tea, which became a loanword throughout the entire western half of Asia: Arabic, Hindi, Kazakh, Russian, Turkish, etc., wherever Persian cultural influence extended. It derives from _cha_, the Mandarin pronunciation of 茶. Characteristic of Persian is to add a -_y_ offglide to monosyllabic words ending in a long vowel. The Hokkien pronunciation of 茶 is _te_, which became \*teh \*in Malay (because the Malay-speaking region got most of its Chinese contacts from Fujian a.k.a. Hokkien), and Dutch traders brought the Malay form of the word to western Europe. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/38 "2011-08-29T22:03:53Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > You need to first prove that it actually is the worlds most popular word before you can ask why, I’d say. No thanks. I’m going to assume it’s true and let the discussion go in the interesting directions it’s gone. You’re free to disagree and find other threads that interest you. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/39 "2011-08-29T22:47:59Z")
“OK” is used in the German made film “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse” (1933). So I suspect WW I took it across the Big Pond pretty well, and maybe WW II spread it everywhere else. I’ve heard it used in Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, and who knows what all else that I’m not recalling now. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395/40 "2011-08-30T05:21:24Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > > [@RickJay](#): > > > > “Tea” would actually be a pretty popular one, for instance. “Tea” is originally Chinese (not Mandarin) but that word or very close equivalents are used to describe that particular drink in many languages. > > Isn’t chai more prevalent than tea? Or cha, which is the word for tea in Japanese and Chinese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-okay-the-worlds-most-popular-word/594395.md?page=3)