Why do we say OK?

OK is the most recognizable word in the world.

But have you ever wondered where this word
came from?
Watch the video to find out more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UnIDL-eHOs
Now do all these exercises, OK?

EXERCISE 1: The very beginning

OK was born in Boston, USA, as early as in the 1830s. Then young
intellectuals liked to use abbreviations (shortened words) of incorrectly spelt words.
Match the abbreviations with the misspelt words and their correct spelling:
1 KY A – knuff ced *all correct
2 KC B – oll korrect *enough said
3 OK C – oll wright *no use
4 OW D – know yuse *all right

EXERCISE 2: Presidential campaign that failed big time

OK was soon used by many 18th century newspapers. Even the US President of that time tried to use OK in
his campaign. Why?
1 Because OK became so popular among American people.
2 Because he was from a town whose name started with K.
3 Because OK were actually the initials of his own name.

EXERCISE 3: The telegraph

As we saw, the telegraph was a machine used to send messages across long distances in forms of dots and
dashes. Unlike KY, KC, or OW, OK became so widely used because the telegraphists started to use it at the
end of every message they telegraphed. Do you remember what OK looked like?
1 . . . ̶ . ̶
2 ... ̶ ̶ ̶ ...
3 . . ̶ . ̶

EXERCISE 4: The secret mystery of the OK success

But OK became so successful and widely used also because
1 letter K is quite unusual in English but eye-catching
2 a lot of adverts started to use it to sell products
3 it was used in an extremely popular folk song

EXERCISE 5: The meaning of OK today

We use OK to agree, to describe something, to say we understand. OK does not say anything about how
we feel about things. We use OK without thinking about it. That is why OK was probably the first word
that was used when people (finish the sentence):
_________________________________________________________________________

So, how did it go? Did everything go OK?

Key
Ex1.
1d 2a 3b 4c
Ex2.
2 Because he was from a town whose name started with K.
Ex3.
3 . . ̶ . ̶
Ex4.
1 letter K is quite unusual in English but eye-catching
Ex5.
…when people landed on the Moon for the first time.