Page "Martin Van Buren" Paragraph 28

Twentieth Century etymologist Alan Walker Read has published research asserting the wide usage of the phrase " O. K.

" ( okay ) started during the presidential campaign and subsequent presidency of Martin Van Buren.

The phrase, which had previously been limited to regional usage with various possible references, was co-opted and popularized to mean " Old Kinderhook ", a reference to Van Buren based on the name of his home village in New York.