Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"

[Jonathan Lighter]

<< I'm not sure what to make of the dictionary's suggestion that the 'scam' meaning
originated in AAVE. >>

  HDAS says "Esp. _Black E._," which is not quite the same thing.

  BTW, the 1975 Hill ex. is also there, and the quoted speaker is indeed O.J. Simpson.  He is speaking of his deceptive moves in football.  As _Time_ had it (Dec. 24, 1973, p. 27):  Year of the Okey-Doke...In the jive patter that Simpson sometimes favors, that is the split-second change of direction that makes him unique. "My game is to juke the tough guys," he says. "I put the okeydoke on them, just bounce around and look for daylight. No one is going to get me to put my head in Dick Butkus' lap."


  JL

RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
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Subject: Obama warns of the "old okey-doke"
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Couple this fuller context with Lighter's observation that "okey-doke" has
had a noun meaning 'scam' since at least 1967, and it looks like I was totally
wrong to insist that Obama must have meant the more conventional meaning. I'm
not sure what to make of the dictionary's suggestion that the 'scam' meaning
originated in AAVE. Given his background--raised in part by older white people
from Kansas--I'd expect that the 'OK' meaning would be more familiar to him.
But there is no way of predicting, I guess, what someone with his intellect is
capable of.


In a message dated 1/24/08 7:48:17 PM, mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU writes:


> A fuller quotation seems to clearly counter the reading of "everything's
> okay"
> for okey-doke. In fact he's saying the opposite. He compares the Clinton's
> comments to stories that are meant to scare.
>
>
> <
> http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.politics/2008-01/msg03337.html>
>
> "They're trying to bamboozle you. It's the same old okey doke. You all know
> about, okey doke, right? It's the same old stuff. Just like if anybody
> starts
> getting one of these e-mails saying 'Obama is a Muslim.' I've been a member
> of
> the same church for almost 20 years, praying to Jesus with my bible. Don't
> let
> people turn you around because they're just making stuff up! That's what
> they
> do. They try to bamboozle you, hoodwink you," he said.
>
>
>
> Quoting RonButters at AOL.COM:
>
> >
> > I guess I didn't make myself clear, Ben. Yes, Obama said (and I took into
> > account the full context):
> >
> > 1. "They're trying to bamboozle you."
> > 2. "It's the same old okey-doke."
> >
> > That is:
> >
> > 1. "They are trying to fool you."
> > 2. "They are just giving you the same old 'everything is OK'."
> >
> > That is:
> >
> > 1. "They are full of lies."
> > 2. "They say everything is okie-doke(y), but it really isn't."
> >
> > As it was usually used in discourse, "okey-doke" meant simply, "OK--fine"
> as
> > in
> >
> > "Don't worry, everything is okey-doke(y)."
> >
> > Pretty much synonymous with "hunky-dorie," though "hunky-dorie" is perhaps
> a
> > shade more enthusiastic.
> >
> > It is most likely, imho, that Obama associates "okie-doke" with older
> > people,
> > hence it is characteristic of the geezer thinking that he is attempting to
> > pin on Bill and Mrs. Bill.
> >
> > In a message dated 1/24/08 5:26:54 PM, bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU
> writes:
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>




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