1) O.K. As in, "How are you today?" "I'm O.K., thanks." What do the O and the K stand for, and where did it come from?
2) Q.T. As in, "Very hush hush and on the Q.T." It seems to mean keep this information a secret. But what does Q.T. stand for?
3) The Big Apple, as in New York City. Why is it called the Big Apple? Does it have anything at all to do with apples?
georgie
11 Comments
That's not to say the term Big Apple wasn't used prior to that.... I'd say it was the musicians that first made the term big in the 30's or so... New York was known for some big race tracks and the prize was often termed the "Apple" and since they had so many it was the "Big Apple" or also referencing the thought that if you made it in new york you made it to the big time.... musicians put the term in songs and often said to to others they had a gig in the "Big Apple" sort of like a slang.
When the push in the late 60's through 70's to make New York more inviting and a more popular tourist place they re-adopted the term more as marketing than anything else and started plastering the apple and I love new york slogan on everything.
I always thought QT was short hand for QuieT much like we use lol and brb...
OK mmmm well I never really thought about it however I'd assume it's an abbriviation too maybe something like ____ Korrekt? since Korrect it correct in german?
hope this helps :)
I agree with IV on his explanation for QT.
I always thought the 'Big Apple' was so called 'cos it's full of maggots.
THAT WAS A JOKE. Don't get upset with me - I've had a hard day.
BTW London used to be called 'The Smoke' because the smog used to kill people.
Goodtimes Ya'll
okay (OK) - Okay is one of the most commonly questioned and debated expressions origins. 'OK' and 'okay' almost certainly had different origins, although the meanings were all similar and now have completely converged. There are various sources of both versions, which perhaps explains why the term is so widely established and used:
* The first publicly acknowledged recorded use of 'OK' was by or associated with Andrew Jackson, 7th US President from 1829-37, to mean 'Orl Korrect', possibly attributed in misspelt form to him mocking his early lack of education.
* The first use of 'OK' in print was in the Boston Morning Post of 23 March 1839 by CG Green, as a reference to 'Old Kinderhook', the nickname for Martin Van Buren, (a favourite of and successor to Jackson), who was 8th US President from 1837-41, whose home town was Kinderbrook, New York.
* The African US slave languages 'Ewe' and 'Wolof' both contained the word 'okay' to mean 'good'. Slavery in the US effectively began in 1620 and lasted until 1865, so this was certainly an early American origin of the term.
* Probably even pre-dating this was a derivation of the phonetic sound 'okay' meaning good, from a word in the native American Choctow language.
* The American anecdotal explanation of railroad clerk Obidiah Kelly marking every parcel that he handled with his initials is probably not true, nevertheless the myth itself helped establish the term.
* Perhaps just as tenuously, from the early 1800's the French term 'Aux Quais', meaning 'at or to the quays' was marked on bales of cotton in the Mississippi River ports, as a sign of the bale being handled or processed and therefore 'okayed'. (The modern-day French public notice 'acces aux quais', means to the trains.)
* A similar French derivation perhaps the use of the expression 'Au Quai' by cotton inspectors in the French Caribbean when rating the quality of cotton suitable for export. (Ack GR)
* In a similar vein, women-folk of French fishermen announced the safe return of their men with the expression 'au quai' (meaning 'back in port', or literally 'at the quayside'). (Ack DH)
* The expression '0 Killed' was a standard report, and no doubt abbreviation to 'OK', relating to a nigh-time's fatalities during the First World War, 1914-18.
* In Europe, The Latin term 'Omnes Korrectes' was traditionally marked on students test papers to mean 'all correct'.
* The Greek 'ola kala' means 'all is well'. The Finnish 'oikea' means correct. Scottish 'och aye' means 'yes' or 'for sure' (from the Scottish pronunciation of 'oh, aye', aye being old English for yes).
* The Scottish expression 'Och Aye' was mimicked by the English in a mocking fashion, and this became 'okay'. (Ack JM)
* In the Victorian era, during the British occupation of India, the natives could not speak English very well, so "all correct" sounded like "orl krect". This was soon shortened to OK, hence our modern usage of the term. (Ack. Philip Holbourn)
http://www.businessballs.com/clichesorigins.htm
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/o/o0051200.html
As I said, nobody's sure that this is the exact origin of the phrase, but those things are in the historical record.
By the way, some trivia about Van Buren: 1] He was the first American President, that is to say, the first one born after the American Revolution. All previous seven Presidents had been born British subjects. 2] He is the first US President of whom we have a photograph (although not while he was in office).
I always just assume OK was short for OKAY... and didn't think about it further.
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)