capitalization - Must OK only be written in capital letters?



Whenever I write ok the spell checkers underline it with a red line and suggest that I should OK. Not even Ok works. Why is that?



Answer



OK is Ok, and Ok is OK.


Oh, also Oklahoma is OK. That's its USA postal code, so it's possible that your spell-checker is agnostic on the subject, and just thinks you are trying to use the state of Oklahoma in an address.


I upvoted @camelbrush's answer because it provides a good explanation of the logic behind why some folks prefer to capitalize both letters. However, nobody is really sure where this word came from. Wikipedia has a table of around 30 of the more popular theories (from 13 different languages).


Realistically one just has to accept that both are in common use, and neither is provably "wrong". If the uncertainty really bugs you, just use the word "Okay" instead.


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