"OK" vs "OKAY"

kaitiepaige17 · Apr 21, 2010

When do you use them? I always use okay, whether I'm saying something like, "Oh, that's okay," or "Okay, I get it!" That's probably not right, so can someone explain the difference between the two? Probably a very elementary question, but oh well haha

FreeWhistler · Apr 21, 2010

As far as I am aware, they're just alternate spellings of the same word so it doesn't matter which one you use. It's just a matter of preference. For example, while you always use"okay," I always use "OK." I have no idea why. It just worked out that way. OK?

stefanie_gaither · Apr 21, 2010

I've always thought of 'OK' as being the less formal of the two...although the word itself (however you spell it) is kind of informal in general. I'd say either way is 'right', though; I'm not bothered by either spelling when I see it on the page...

-Stef

shadowwalker · Apr 21, 2010

I've always used "okay" just because it looks less like slang - but that's just personal preference.

fredXgeorge · Apr 21, 2010

It's weird - I tend to use 'okay' when writing but prefer 'OK' when reading. I might end up changing it in my WIP.

CACTUSWENDY · Apr 21, 2010

When I saw this thread earlier today....I laughed to myself, because five years ago on this forum it was drilled into me that the word was spelled okay. To spell it as ok was not correct. lol From that day forward I have always spelled it as okay. The English teachers and word masters that were on this board back then stressed it. I find it interesting to see how five years has changed things.

Carry on.......

shaldna · Apr 22, 2010

i have always used 'okay' because that's what I was taught touse,.

but i think it's much of a muchness

Baryonyx · Apr 22, 2010

I use OK.

No particular reason, it's just the habit I've gotten in.

dpaterso · Apr 22, 2010

CACTUSWENDY said:
When I saw this thread earlier today....I laughed to myself, because five years ago on this forum it was drilled into me that the word was spelled okay. To spell it as ok was not correct. lol From that day forward I have always spelled it as okay. The English teachers and word masters that were on this board back then stressed it. I find it interesting to see how five years has changed things.

I haven't changed, and never will! I am unanimous in this.

Recent similar thread.

-Derek

hannah_92 · Apr 22, 2010

After asking the same question I now know to use "okay" when I write as it's less of a slang way of writing it and it also stands out less in the text.

Becky Black · Apr 22, 2010

I usually use "okay" within actual narrative and dialogue. Only if I was describing something that actully showed "OK" would I use it. Like "Jim clicked the OK button."

Ms Hollands · Apr 22, 2010

dpaterso said:
I haven't changed, and never will! I am unanimous in this.

Recent similar thread.

-Derek

I wasn't here five years ago but if I had been, I would have been passionate about the use of "okay" in writing. "OK" is so...early text speak...

kaitie · Apr 22, 2010

Agreed, it should be "okay." OK looks far too slang and informal to me. It actually really bothers me to see it written that way.

kurzon · Apr 22, 2010

kaitiepaige17 said:
When do you use them? I always use okay, whether I'm saying something like, "Oh, that's okay," or "Okay, I get it!" That's probably not right, so can someone explain the difference between the two? Probably a very elementary question, but oh well haha

"Okay" is how I would spell it, if I was to use it at all. However, since I primarily write high fantasy, I don't use it in those novels.

If you're writing Urban Fantasy, this won't be an issue to you, of course, but one of my first readers would always jump up and down on "too modern" words if they crept into my writing. She would say "Okay" has a very distinct Twentieth century origin, and sticks out in a high fantasy novel like a machine gun. [First use is apparently 1790 or something, but I think she strongly associated it with the Twentieth century.] Whatever the case, I did eventually decide that the word felt 'out of place' with the world I was writing.

Ursula K LeGuin's essay on language in fantasy ("From Elfland to Poughkeepsie") is well worth reading.

Some words are very difficult to decide whether to use or not. "Silhouette" for instance, derives from a Frenchman called Etienne de Silhouette and is such a distinct origin - but I like the word and I'll use it in high fantasy despite being so strongly seated in this world.

[That's my overlong and tangential answer for the day.]

Satsya · Apr 22, 2010

I use 'okay' in my story set in an alternate 1920s type environment. I don't think I've ever used 'OK'. It sounds awkward. Plus, when I seen 'OK' in writing I hesitate a fraction of a milli-second trying to figure out what OK stands for (Oklahoma?).

NeuroFizz · Apr 22, 2010

A few years back I was told by an editor (for my publisher) that okay is the appropriate form and OK was more of an abbreviation. Editors may differ on this, but I stick with okay now. If I ever use it in dialogue, and the character's personality is better supported by the OK form, I'll use it as one of many small tools to help convey that personality to the reader through that dialogue. I haven't had the occasion to do this as yet.

The lesson - if a writer accepts one of two options like this as appropriate for his/her writing, he/she should never rule out using the other option as a tool to gain creative leverage in some aspect of story construction or storytelling.

Of course, I could just use the Swifty:

"I concur," he said OKingly

seun · Apr 22, 2010

Didn't this same question come up a couple of weeks ago?

Lydia Sharp · Apr 22, 2010

Chiming in...
I've always used "okay" in my writing. Even when I was a kid, "OK" just didn't look appropriate to me. Although, I am from the pre-internet/pre-cell phone/pre-text speak generation.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 22, 2010

I use "okay" for everything.

Lady Ice · Apr 22, 2010

I only use 'OK' for texting.

kaitiepaige17 · Apr 22, 2010

Thanks guys! I'm glad to see that I won't have to find every single "okay" in my ms and change it hahaha!

Tallent · Apr 22, 2010

'k' is for texting. 'OK' is for billboards, ads, shorthand, Morse code and branding cattle. 'Okay' should be used for writing or we will all end up writing like we text message.

Sargentodiaz · Apr 22, 2010

Can't help but post this from Wiktionary:

Etymology 1

Abbreviated fanciful spelling of "all correct" (oll korrect), as part of a fad for similar comical abbreviations (of which no others have survived) in the United States in the late 1830s.

Alternative forms
O.K., okay, okey-dokey, k, 'kay, m'kay, A-OK

scope · Apr 22, 2010

NeuroFizz said:
If I ever use it in dialogue, and the character's personality is better supported by the OK form, I'll use it as one of many small tools to help convey that personality to the reader through that dialogue.

The lesson - if a writer accepts one of two options like this as appropriate for his/her writing, he/she should never rule out using the other option as a tool to gain creative leverage in some aspect of story construction or storytelling.

A big ditto for me re the above.

Kirk T · Apr 22, 2010

I changed OK to okay on my last work simply because I used a bunch of others like LTD, SPD, EPD....in the story as well. It just looked better to use,"okay" OK?

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