AMERICAN SLANG

Evening Star, Issue 22524, 17 December 1936, Page 14

AMERICAN SLANG

FILM CENSOR'S RESEARCH The Commonwealth Film Censor (Mr W. Cresswell O’Reilly, addressing the New South Wales branch of the ‘ John o’ London’s ’ Literary Circle,' said that many explanations had been advanced of the origin of that intriuguing subject, title, or wordphrase, “ 0.K.” One suggestion was that it originated from Aux Cayes, an island in the West Indies, which used to export rum to the United States of America. Connoisseurs or Customs officials would remark that it was “ Aux Cayes.” Another suggestion was that it came from “ oak,” with a variation of “ oke.” “ Those who have seen a certain type of film will remember the expression, ‘ okey-doke,’ ” he added, “ probably meaning that anything that was ‘ okey ’ was as true and reliable as the ancient oak tree.”

A Scottish word “ oehaye ” was pronounced “ocki.” A further possible explanation was the initialling of chits by a man named O’Keily. A more common explanation came from the illiteracy of Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1825 to 1833, who is alleged to have written “ orl korrect ” for “all correct.”

In the early gold mining days in Australia Chinese on the fields used the word “ hokai,” meaning good luck—and that, he said, would probably be on many tongues. It had also been suggested that the initials of Otto R. Klengender, a supplier to the American army, who stamped “ 0.K.” on his products, may have been the origin of the phrase. After the completion of the overland telegraph, Mr (late Sir Charles) Todd received the first message signed “ 0. K. Richardson,” a man who later became editor of the ‘ Chronicle.’ Of all the possible explanations, only one was found in a dictionary, Mr O’Reilly said, and that was the word “ okey.”

Languages were constantly changing form, and he predicted that American cinematograph technicians, under the title “ moonbeam - greazers ” and “ paint agers,” would probably have their occupations mentioned in dictionaries.