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Design and formatting 9. Thus it was taken into the Choctaw Native American language, whose expression "okeh" meant something like "it is so". US President Woodrow Wilson, early in the 20th Century, lent his prestige by marking okeh on documents he approved. And soon OK was to find its place in many languages as a reminder of a familiar word or abbreviation. But what makes OK so useful that we incorporate it into so many conversations?
It's not that it was needed to "fill a gap" in any language. Before , English speakers had "yes", "good", "fine", "excellent", "satisfactory", and "all right". What OK provided that the others did not was neutrality, a way to affirm or to express agreement without having to offer an opinion. Consider this dialogue: "Let's meet again this afternoon. Compare that with: "Let's meet again this afternoon. Reply: "Wonderful!
OK allows us to view a situation in simplest terms, just OK or not. When someone falls down, the question is not "how well are you feeling? And any lingering stigma associated with OK is long since gone.
Speaking to schoolchildren in he said: "That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. The word would also easily slip from the mouth of a British prime minister like David Cameron. And yet, despite its conquest of conversations the world over, there remain vast areas of language where OK is scarcely to be found. You won't find OK in prepared speeches. No, the terms are the same.
You might decide that both are too informal if you are preparing a professional document. Remember, OK can be a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective. Take a look at some examples:. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be? Okay and OK are two acceptable spellings of the same word. In formal writing, follow the requirements of your style guide. You have the answers to the questions. For extremely formal writing, always consult the relevant style guide. What are you waiting for? You have a sentence to complete!
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