OK : the improbable story of America's greatest word / Allan Metcalf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Metcalf, Allan A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--United States--Etymology.

English language.

English language--Usage.

Americanisms.

United States--History--Terminology.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 p.)

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, more common than an infant's first word ma or the ever-present beverage Coke. It was even the first word spoken on the moon. It is ""OK""-- the most ubiquitous and invisible of American expressions, one used countless times every day. Yet few of us know the secret history of OK--how it was coined, what it stood for, and the amazing extent of its influence. Allan Metcalf, a renowned popular writer on language, here traces the evolution of America's most popular word, writing with brevity and wit, and ranging across Ameri

Contents:

Contents; Preface; 1. Introduction: The ABCs of OK; 2. A Saturday Morning in Boston; 3. 1840: Old Kinderhook Is OK; 4. Hoax: Andrew Jackson's Misspelling; 5. Aesthetics: The Look and Sound of OK; 6. False Origins; 7. The Business of OK; 8. O.K. Clubs; 9. The Literary OK; 10. Oklahoma Is OK; 11. Okey-Dokey; 12. Modern OK Literature; 13. The Practical OK; 14. The World-and England; 15. The Lifemanship OK; 16. The Psychological OK; 17. The American Philosophy; Index

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0-19-975252-4

1-282-79476-0

9786612794766

0-19-970329-9

OCLC:

670228836