Is it "okay" or "OK"?

Plot Device · May 22, 2011

I prefer "okay" because it looks more like a word.

But the New York Times manual say to use "OK," which to me causes needless confusion with the land of Tulsa.

::ETA::

(BTW, I did a search figuring this question HAD to have been asked before. But that search turned up empty .... Okay?)

Wayne K · May 22, 2011

Okay doesn't even come up in my etymology dictionary

OK does

1839, only survivor of a slang fad in Boston and New York c.1838-9 for abbreviations of common phrases with deliberate, jocular misspellings (cf. K.G. for "no go," as if spelled "know go"); in this case, "oll korrect." Further popularized by use as an election slogan by the O.K. Club, New York boosters of Democratic president Martin Van Buren's 1840 re-election bid, in allusion to his nickname Old Kinderhook, from his birth in the N.Y. village of Kinderhook. Van Buren lost, the word stuck, in part because it filled a need for a quick way to write an approval on a document, bill, etc. The noun is first attested 1841; the verb 1888. Spelled out as okeh, 1919, by Woodrow Wilson, on assumption that it represented Choctaw okeh "it is so" (a theory which lacks historical documentation); this was ousted quickly by okay after the appearance of that form in 1929. Okey-doke is student slang first attested 1932. Greek immigrants to America who returned home early 20c. having picked up U.S. speech mannerisms were known in Greece as okay-boys, among other things.

absitinvidia · May 22, 2011

Plot Device said:
I prefer "okay" because it looks more like a word.

But the New York Times manual say to use "OK," which to me causes needless confusion with the land of Tulsa.

::ETA::

(BTW, I did a search figuring this question HAD to have been asked before. But that search turned up empty .... Okay?)

Either is fine. The main thing is to be consistent. If you're writing for publication, the publisher may have a preference, and the copy editor will make the changes then.

CACTUSWENDY · May 22, 2011

For a long time I used ok. .....then when I joined AW I was told that okay was the right way to do it.

So, since then, I have done my best to use okay. ..........okay?

Rufus Coppertop · May 22, 2011

Personally, I think Okay is okayer than OK.

Ari Meermans · May 22, 2011

absitinvidia said:
Either is fine. The main thing is to be consistent. If you're writing for publication, the publisher may have a preference, and the copy editor will make the changes then.

Consistency probably is the most important thing.

I've always favored 'okay' but, just for kicks and grins, I checked a couple of books by two of my favorite authors.

The Apprentice - Tess Gerritsen uses 'okay'.

Worth Dying For - Lee Child uses 'OK'.

Nick Blaze · May 22, 2011

I have and will always use "okay". I simply feel it's more correct to use in writing. "OK" feels more like a colloquialism and just simply looks awkward. If I see it in a novel, it jars me from the page.

Susan Coffin · May 22, 2011

I use okay in fiction, as I've always thought of OK as an abbreviation. I don't think one way is right or wrong, though. Perhaps it's all a matter of styel.

Here's a link I found: http://www.thefictiondesk.com/blog/ok-or-okay/

Fallen · May 22, 2011

There is no phonetic difference between 'ok' and 'okay'. Therefore, imho, 'okay' is the far better choice, If there was a point to using 'ok' other than showing that a character can text colloquially (ok, c u later m8), I'd use 'ok', other than that... Okay would be my choice purely because using it would reveal more about the author's style of writing over his character (especially in narrative)

IceCreamEmpress · May 22, 2011

Be consistent in your own work. If whoever's publishing you has a different choice in their style guide, the copy editors will change it.

I myself prefer "okay" but I have certainly edited for publications and publishers who were all OK all the time. ("OK" is the more historically accurate choice, which may be why the Times prefers it? "Okay" is a later variation, as Wayne K {Kay?} describes.)

Amadan · May 22, 2011

I prefer "Okay," and that's what I see in print most often. But different styleguides mandate different forms, so there is no canonically correct answer.

fredXgeorge · May 22, 2011

I use 'okay' but I write fantasy so 'OK' doesn't seem to really fit. I think if I wrote more contemporary stuff I'd probably still use the same but I'm fine with reading either of them.

dpaterso · May 23, 2011

Plot Device said:
But the New York Times manual say to use "OK,"

When I were a young lad, all the books I read spelled it "O.K." with the periods ('cause that's how it's pronounced?). I guess common usage and possibly lazy typing fingers has evolved this to "OK". I prefer to write "okay" (unless I'm typing in a hurry, in chat or similar venue) but that's just my persnickity personal preference.

(BTW, I did a search figuring this question HAD to have been asked before. But that search turned up empty .... Okay?)

Next time try the little Google search box at the bottom of every page... put your search string in quotes, e.g. "okay vs. OK"

-Derek

Julie Reilly · May 23, 2011

Personally I use OK over okay, for the same reason I use TV and not teevee.

But I think in the case of OK vs. okay, either is considered correct. I have never seen anyone use teevee. Except as in Mike Teevee in Charlie and he Chocolate Factory.

Purple Rose · May 23, 2011

I use okay. I was actually inconsistent and the line editor said to beconsistent and changed "OK" to "okay".

@Julie. I use TV in dialogue and "television" everywhere else.

dpaterso · May 23, 2011

Julie Reilly said:
Personally I use OK over okay, for the same reason I use TV and not teevee.

And when I were a lad, they wrote T.V. not TV!

-Derek

brainstorm77 · May 23, 2011

I always used 'ok'. Every editor I have worked with has changed it to 'okay'.

Julie Reilly · May 23, 2011

dpaterso said:
And when I were a lad, they wrote T.V. not TV!

-Derek

My Dad still writes 'phone, 'bus and photo' - note the apostrophes!!

Bufty · May 23, 2011

Use whichever version of OK you prefer but remain consistent. No matter which one you use it may be changed if the publishing house prefer another variation.

There's no correct or incorrect version and it's nothing to get in a sweat about.

Plot Device · May 23, 2011

My general sense has been that the world of pulp and/or newsprint (specifically comic books, newspaper comic strips, newspaper political cartoons, and newspaper stories in general) prefers to use "OK." It saves space and ink.

But off in the world of formal literary prose and book publishing, the word "okay" is preferred because it looks like and feels like a real word. It therefore flows more nicely through the retinas than a clunky and capitalized abbreviation would.

(The in-between world of journals seems to be an in-between mix of the two.)

At least that's my understanding.

Meanwhile, I am proofing a non-fiction book for a guy who already has the book deal signed. He just has to deliver the completed manuscript by July 1st to the publisher. This guy is a New York resident with a background in newspaper journalism, and so he is partial to the conventions of newspapers. Additionally, he's also very biased toward the universe-shaping maxims uttered by that pantheon of immortals who flit around inside the illustrious halls of the almighty New York Times. So his whole manuscript is full of "OK." But it's been very jarring for me to read that dispicable abbreviation. So I checked the internet, then I came here to ask you guys. Both the internet and you guys said: "No difference. Go wit whatevuh."

After asking you guys, I wrote him a note saying I personally detest "OK," and then I explained why. Then I said it's ultimately his choice.

Julie Reilly · May 23, 2011

Well, if he's already got the book deal I would say at this stage that it doesn't really matter. If the editor wants "okay" instead of "OK" after the manuscript is submitted then a global change would be simple enough.

VoireyLinger · May 23, 2011

I was taught way back when... I think third grade... that both OK and okay were acceptable.

Of course the dark ages are over now and things might have changed.

Pistol Whipped Bee · May 23, 2011

It's Mkay.

Bufty · May 23, 2011

If OK is acceptable for all 13 of Lee Child's books published through Bantam, it's OK for me, and were my publisher (cough...) to change it to something else - that would be okay, too.

Calliopenjo · May 23, 2011

I hope these sources have an answer for you.

Grammarist

The Writer Magazine

Dictionary

Is it "okay" or "OK"?

A woman said to write like a man.

A bit of a wallflower

An old, sappy, and happy one.

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter

Jun-Ikkyu

Tell it like it Is

Stood at the coalface

Hapless Virago

I heart sexy elves and wizards.

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practical experience, FTW

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

practical experience, FTW

Where have the last ten years gone?

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Angel Wing Fetish

Now what?

Where have the last ten years gone?

Esteemed thinker