OK is an abbreviation.
Years ago, the proper spelling was O.K., but we’re now so much in love with acronyms that we’ve dropped the periods from many abbreviations, including this one.
Do you know what OK is an abbreviation for?
Most people only know it as a word for something approved, all right, spiffy, or hunky-dory. In the early 1800s, it was occasionally used to identify something as “all correct.” The expression became popular in Martin van Buren’s presidential campaign in 1840, associating his Old Kinderhook nickname with the party’s platform to “make all things OK.”
You may see in print either OK or okay. Which spelling is correct? Since it’s now a word and is no longer even an abbreviation for words we don’t remember, we should spell out okay and leave OK for abbreviating the name of the state just north of Texas.
