We were at my sister’s house the other night when she asked who wanted coffee. Marv replied with his usual - “I’m OK.” My mom, whose first language is Chinese, asked what he meant by that.

After we all discussed it some more and puzzled over OK’s etymology (OK originated in the 1800’s as a joke spelling “oll korrect”), we concluded that OK has so many different usages that it leads to frequent miscommunication. For most of us whose best language is English, “I’m OK” means “I’m fine just the way I am.” But it can also seem confusingly similar to “Yes. OK.”

Another example: if you say “OK” just to show that you’ve heard someone, it can also make it seem like you agree with them or are OK with whatever it is they’re proposing to do. Dictionary.com has seven different definitions just for the adjectival form:

  1. Agreeable; acceptable: Was everything OK with your stay?
  2. Satisfactory; good: an OK fellow.
  3. Not excellent and not poor; mediocre: made an OK presentation.
  4. In proper or satisfactory operational or working order: Is the battery OK?
  5. Correct: That answer is OK.
  6. Uninjured; safe: The skier fell but was OK.
  7. Fairly healthy; well: Thanks to the medicine, the patient was OK.

This reminds me to be more careful about the way I use “OK” in Vietnam where the official language is not English. I know my helper sometimes says “OK” when it’s clear that she doesn’t understand what I’m trying to tell her. I often ask her, “OK or not?” and even then, it’s often not oll korrect.

How many different ways do you use “OK”?