Re: Word usage in group versus out of group.

Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:

> I remember one iteration of that on sci.lang, where someone eventually
> came up with cites from 1840's US papers to show that it came from the
> presidential campaign of James van Buren (I think), whose nickname was
> Old Kinderhook. Has that been shown to be false?
The Old Kinderhook campaign definitely gave the fad for "O.K." national
publicity, as the Democratic Party temporarily renamed itself the
"O.K. club".  But the usage of "O.K." in Boston newspapers had appeared
several years before.

Now, of course, the word is very international, and is even accepted
in international cables (as a synonym for "we agree").

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)