Peopleallovertheworldknowwhat"OK"means,butfewrealisehowtheexpressionwasborn.
In1838,peopleinBostonstartedusinginitials,sometimescombinedwithpurposefulmisspellings,justforfun.Forexample,"OW"stoodfor"OllWright(allright)"and"OK"for"OllKorrect(allcorrect)".However,"OK"didnotcomeintonationaluseuntilthepresidentialcampaignof1840.PresidentVanBuren,whotheDemocratstriedtogetreelected,wasfromKinderhook,NewYork,andsohewasalsocalled"OldKinderhook".OK.Politicaloperativesseizedonthatcoincidence.DemocratsstartedformingOKclubsandstagingOKballs.Thecampaigncatapultedtheexpressionintonationalcirculation.ThoughVanBurenlosthisbidforreelection,"OK"woninalandslideandisstillwidelyusedtoday.
世人無不知道「OK」的意思，但知道其來歷的人卻很少。
一八三八年，波士頓人開始流行用「斬尾字」，有時還故意把字錯拼，覺得好玩，例如把OllWright（好吧）縮作OW，又把OllKorrect（完全正確）縮作OK等。不過，「OK」要到一八四零年總統競選期間，才全美通用。當時民主黨籍的總統范布倫力求連任。他出身於紐約州金德胡克市，所以又名「老金德胡克」，即OldKinderhook。OK。政壇軍師就利用這個巧合。民主黨員着手四處成立OK俱樂部、舉辦OK舞會等。這場競選令「OK」一詞風靡美國。范布倫雖然連任失敗，但「OK」大勝，至今還大行其道。