What do we mean when we say OK?

April 4, 2026 — 5:30am

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Almost 200 years ago, newspapers loved to bait each other. Maybe we still do, but back then the bickering was playful, a show-fight between mates where one masthead niggled the another, derided its taste or quality. Only to have the grenade lobbed back by the rival’s editorial. These long-running spats sold copies, of course, and coaxed a word into being.

Two if you’re picky: oll korrect. The phonetic spelling – coined on March 23, 1839 – was a snub by Charles Gordon Greene, editor of the Boston Morning Post, aimed at the so-called bumpkin status of the Providence Journal. Back then, like now, the craze was abbreviation, seeing Greene’s phrase trimmed to o.k. (full stops included).

Catchy to say and write, as time........

© The Age