O.K.

[Richard Gage]

On Tuesday, 5 Mar 2002 at 12:18:49, Clark Whelton wrote:
> 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.

According to the Robert MacNeil narrated PBS documentary
"Story of English," the word "okay" derives from an African
word that slaves brought to America.