From Buenos Aires to Bangkok, Montreal to Moscow, the languages may differ, but nearly every taxi driver or street vendor in the world understands one word made famous during a raucous U.S. presidential campaign nearly 200 years ago.

It’s “OK”: a tiny word that punches well above its weight. It means both “yes” and “I understand.” It’s a noun: I got the OK for this story from my editor; a verb: She OK’d it and an adjective: The story turned out OK.

It’s even a simple interjection: OK! Enough with the grammar lesson!

[Article]

  • galoisghost@aussie.zoneEnglish
    6·
    15 days ago

    Nothing ever changes in human nature:

    It germinates from a linguistic fad of the time — a playful trend not unlike Cockney rhyming slang in which people “would abbreviate common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings,”