Today in 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in the Boston Morning Post. The term was initially a abbreviation for “oll correct”, which itself was slang for “all correct”. It was popular for young kids of the era to misspell words and abbreviate them into fun slang terms. Some other slang terms of the era were: “KY” for “No use” (“know yuse”), and “KG” for “No go” (“Know go”). OK received further fame when politicians began to state it. Supporters of Martin van Buren were formally called the “O.K. club”, based on Van Buern’s nickname of Old Kinderhook.
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