<P> The general fad is speculated to have existed in spoken or informal written U.S. English for a decade or more before its appearance in newspapers . OK's original presentation as "all correct" was later varied with spellings such as "Oll Korrect" or even "Ole Kurreck". </P> <P> The term appears to have achieved national prominence in 1840, when supporters of the Democratic political party claimed during the 1840 United States presidential election that it stood for "Old Kinderhook", a nickname for a Democratic presidential candidate, Martin Van Buren, a native of Kinderhook, New York, who was Andrew Jackson's protégé . "Vote for OK" was snappier than using his Dutch name . In response, Whig opponents attributed OK, in the sense of "Oll Korrect," to Andrew Jackson's bad spelling . The country - wide publicity surrounding the election appears to have been a critical event in OK's history, widely and suddenly popularizing it across the United States . </P> <P> Read proposed an etymology of "OK" in "Old Kinderhook" in 1941 . The evidence presented in that article was somewhat sparse, and the connection to "Oll Korrect" not fully elucidated . Various challenges to the etymology were presented; e.g., Heflin's 1962 article . However, Read's landmark 1963--1964 papers silenced most of the skepticism . Read's etymology gained immediate acceptance, and is now offered without reservation in most dictionaries . Read himself was nevertheless open to evaluating alternative explanations: </P> <P> Some believe that the Boston newspaper's reference to OK may not be the earliest . Some are attracted to the claim that it is of American - Indian origin . There is an Indian word, okeh, used as an affirmative reply to a question . Mr Read treated such doubting calmly . "Nothing is absolute," he once wrote, "nothing is forever ." </P>

Where did the expression okie dokie come from