The curious letter K

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

The letter K has always jolted me. It seems out of place compared to the other letters in the alphabet. 
 
Advanced apologies to Steve Roush, another columnist here, whose middle name begins with K.  

Maybe it unconsciously goes back to Khrushchev, who loomed large when I was a child. But there you are, reading along and a k pops up in a sentence. Curiously, f or t do not engender a similar reaction nor do the descenders such as y. 

Of course, there is the KKK, which raises all sorts of negative thoughts. Then, there are the Kennedys, who I largely view in a positive light.

In Troy, Ohio, there is a hamburger joint on East Main Street named K’s, that has been in continuous operation in the same location since 1932. By the way, I treated Steve Roush and his wife, Helen, to lunch there back in 2019. This was when we had made a trip to Wapakoneta, Ohio (See that K slyly buried in Wapakoneta?). We had also stopped in Lockington (Oops, another K) to see the ruins of five locks in the Erie-Ohio Canal. I recommend it, a great day trip.

Kellogg’s has always engendered positive thoughts. And I bet you can sing some of the jingles (see “The Real Mad Men of Chicago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4NB6awSE0&t=977s).

Then there is the King of all Ks – OK. According to Wikipedia (with another sly K buried in its length): “The origin of OK is disputed; however, most modern reference works hold that it originated around Boston as part of a fad in the late 1830s of abbreviating misspellings; that it is an initialism of 'oll korrect' as a misspelling of 'all correct.’"  

This origin was first described by linguist Allen Walker Read in the 1960s.

“As an adjective, OK principally means ‘adequate’ or ‘acceptable’ as a contrast to ‘bad’ (‘The boss approved this, so it is OK to send out’); it can also mean ‘mediocre’ when used in contrast with ‘good’ (‘The french fries were great, but the burger was just OK’). It fulfills a similar role as an adverb (‘Wow, you did OK for your first time skiing!’). As an interjection, it can denote compliance (‘OK, I will do that’), or agreement (‘OK, that is fine’). It can mean ‘assent’ when it is used as a noun (‘the boss gave her the OK to the purchase’) or, more colloquially, as a verb (‘the boss OK'd the purchase’). OK, as an adjective, can express acknowledgement without approval. As a versatile discourse marker or continuer, it can also be used with appropriate intonation to show doubt or to seek confirmation (‘OK?’, ‘Is that OK?’).”

Wikipedia also describes “OK” as the most frequently spoken or written word on the planet as a loan word in many languages. I can attest to that. I have been many places around the world and heard many languages which I can’t discern, except fairly frequently “OK?” pops up.

I hope you are OK with this column.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.