O.K.

[Clark Whelton]

As a new subscriber, I'm not up to speed on the latest thinking on the
origins of O.K.   The subject interests me for two reasons:   I have a home
in Kinderhook, NY, one block from the birthplace of Martin Van Buren, whose
sobriquet "Old Kinderhook" is often cited in O.K. research.

However, I remember my grandfather, Daniel A. Whelton, who was mayor of
Boston in 1905, assuring his New York-born grandson that Boston had a
certain cachet  New York would always lack.  He made a number of
comparisons, but the only one that sticks in my mind is his statement that
(and I'm paraphrasing here) "Boston is where O.K. began.  New York gets the
credit, but it started in Massachusetts.  In the old days, when trading with
the Indians, they used to seal the bargain by saying in Indian language, "Ho
Kay."  It meant, "it is agreed, it is good."  O.K. was used in Boston for a
long time before it reached New York."

He may have been pulling my leg, but I'm passing it along just in case
there's something to it.