OK

The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word

Allan Metcalf

OUP USA

224 pages

978-0-19-537793-4 | Hardback | 27 January 2011

Price: £12.99

Add to Wish List

OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word ties together popular culture, history, and language in an engaging study
Explains the origins of one of the most ubiquitous expressions one used millions of times every day
Allan Metcalf is a renowned popular writer on language

It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, more common than an infant's first word ma or the ever-present beverage Coke. It was even the first word spoken on the moon. It is OK - the most ubiquitous and invisible of American expressions, one used countless times every day. Yet few of us know the secret history of OK - how it was coined, what it stood for, and the amazing extent of its influence.

Allan Metcalf here traces the evolution of America's most popular word, writing with brevity and wit, and ranging across American history with colourful portraits of the nooks and crannies in which OK survived and prospered. He describes how OK was born as a lame joke in a newspaper article in 1839, used as a supposedly humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect" (i.e, "all correct"), but should have died a quick death, as most clever coinages do.

However OK was swept along in a nineteenth-century fad for abbreviations, was appropriated by a presidential campaign (one of the candidates being called "Old Kinderhook"), and finally was picked up by operators of the telegraph. Over the next century and a half, it established a firm toehold in the American lexicon, and eventually became embedded in pop culture, from the "I'm OK, You're OK" of 1970's transactional analysis, to Ned Flanders' absurd "Okeley Dokeley!" Indeed, OK became emblematic of a uniquely American attitude, and is one of the country's most successful global exports.

Anyone who loves the life of words or the quirky corners of American culture will find this delightful book more than just OK.

Readership: Readers interested in language, American culture and history

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

Subscribe to RSS feeds

OK

The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word

Share