OK [[electronic resource] ] : the improbable story of America's greatest word / / Allan Metcalf

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910459499003321
• Autore: Metcalf Allan A
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Oxford ; ; New York, : Oxford University Press, 2010
• ISBN: 1-282-79476-0; 9786612794766; 0-19-970329-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (225 p.)
• Disciplina: 427/.973
• Soggetti: English language - United States - Etymology; English language - Usage; Americanisms; Electronic books.; United States History Terminology
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Includes index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Preface; 1. Introduction: The ABCs of OK; 2. A Saturday Morning in Boston; 3. 1840: Old Kinderhook Is OK; 4. Hoax: Andrew Jackson's Misspelling; 5. Aesthetics: The Look and Sound of OK; 6. False Origins; 7. The Business of OK; 8. O.K. Clubs; 9. The Literary OK; 10. Oklahoma Is OK; 11. Okey-Dokey; 12. Modern OK Literature; 13. The Practical OK; 14. The World-and England; 15. The Lifemanship OK; 16. The Psychological OK; 17. The American Philosophy; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, more common than an infant's first word ma or the ever-present beverage Coke. It was even the first word spoken on the moon. It is ""OK""-- the most ubiquitous and invisible of American expressions, one used countless times every day. Yet few of us know the secret history of OK--how it was coined, what it stood for, and the amazing extent of its influence. Allan Metcalf, a renowned popular writer on language, here traces the evolution of America's most popular word, writing with brevity and wit, and ranging across Ameri