OK

OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word
By Allan A. Metcalf
Oxford University Press, 2011. 210 pgs. Nonfiction

OK is a quiet but shining star in the universe of American dialogue. We use it daily in a multitude of contexts. But how did this little combination of a couple letters rise to its present prevalence? Well, it started as a joke, became a political slogan, was adopted by telegraph operators as a quick way to acknowledge receipt, and slowing but surely planted itself in the hearts, minds, and mouths of a nation. Metcalf’s book tells the story of this little word’s interesting origin, rise, and dominance in the vocabulary of the world.

There is not doubt that OK has a great history. OK is said to be the most commonly used word in the English language and yet most of us have never given its origin and history any thought. This book presents everything you could possibly want to know about the word and, for the most part, does so in an entertaining way (minus the chapter listing business named OK of which there are a surprising number of dry cleaners). Most readers will be able to sate their interest in this topic with a quick skim of the first and last few chapters.