OK这个词，你每天用几次？

很多人以为“okay”才是完整、正规的写法，但其实恰恰相反 ——“okay”是由“OK”演化而成的。而最早诞生的“OK”，是一个别有用意的“错别字”！

A deliberate misspelling that began as a joke has evolved into “OK”, one of the world’s most widely recognized words.

关于“OK”的来历，众说纷纭。被多数词典盖章的开端，其实有点无厘头。

时间倒回1839年3月23日，《波士顿晨报》 首次刊登了“OK”这个缩写。该报编辑在一篇讽刺文章中，故意将“all correct”（一切都好）拼成“oll korrect”，并将其缩写为“ok”。

The term first appeared in print on March 23, 1839, in the Boston Morning Post, where an editor intentionally misspelt “all correct” as “oll korrect” and shortened it to “ok.”

当时，受过教育的年轻人中流行一种做法：故意拼错单词，然后缩写，并在彼此交谈时用作俚语。比如“oll wright”缩成“OW”，“no go”缩成“NG”。

于是在种种因素的推动下，“OK”作为玩笑的一部分，开始逐步融入人们的生活中。19世纪的俚语众多，而”OK”并未湮没于时代浪潮；而真正让它走红的，是1840年的总统大选。

当时谋求连任的马丁·范布伦有个昵称“Old Kinderhook”。支持者成立“OK俱乐部”，既喊竞选口号，又蹭了“一切都好”的好彩头。

对手辉格党本想用“oll korrect”这个错别字梗来嘲讽，结果反而帮了倒忙——OK从此彻底出圈，成为美国乃至全世界最通用的词汇之一。

The expression gained widespread popularity during the U.S. presidential election in 1840.

Supporters of incumbent President Martin Van Buren, nicknamed “Old Kinderhook,” adopted “OK” as a campaign slogan. Attempts by political rivals to mock the phrase only helped spread it further, turning a playful typo into one of the world’s most enduring expressions.

据在线词源词典Etymonline介绍，1919年，美国总统伍德罗·威尔逊曾将“OK”拼写为“okeh”。1929年，“okay”这一拼写出现后，很快取代了“okeh”，逐渐成为沿用至今的完整拼写形式。

Spelt out as okeh, in 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh “it is so” (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this spelling was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929.

(China Daily)