"OK" Chef symbol (C hicago Tribune, June 3, 1917)

[Jonathan Lighter]

What interests me is whether it was called "the OK sign" back then or something else (like "er, the gesture chefs make when something tastes just right," maybe).

  Since the word "OK" used to be more emphatically positive than it often is today, one wonders.

  JL

RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: RonButters at AOL.COM
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20=A0=20=A0=20=A0=20"OK"=20Chef=20symbol=20(C?
= =?ISO-8859-1?Q?hicago=20Tribune,=20June=203,=201917)?=
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a message dated 1/17/06 3:17:01 PM, Bapopik at AOL.COM writes:


> An ad in the June 3, 1917 Chicago Tribune, page 2, for Yacht Club Salad
> Dressing by Tildesley & Co., 350 N. Clark St., Chicago.
> ...
> A person called "The Chef" is making the "OK" sign, so familiarly seen on
> pizza boxes 50 years later.
>

Is he saying 'OK' or something else? I assume this means making a circle with
the thumb and second finger, which means different things in different
cultures. At any rate, Barry is raising some really interesting (to me) semiotic
issues here.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org




---------------------------------
Yahoo! Photos – Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover
 Photo Books. You design it and we’ll bind it!

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org