OK, ok, O.K., okay, Ok! Which is it?

And what does it even mean?! A brief celebration of the most common word no one knows how to spell.

Fun fact for people who still “talk on the phone”: We tend to say “OK” as a signal that the conversation is still ongoing, and “Alright” when we’re ready to stop. Once you’re aware of it, it’s impossible not to notice, so I guess … sorry or you’re welcome. Alan Metcalf, who has written a comprehensive history of “OK,” notes that one of its distinguishing features is that it “affirms without evaluating,” which is to say that by itself, it’s completely neutral—you have to add a qualifier to it (“OK, great!” or “OK, I guess”) to indicate precisely what sort of OK we’re dealing with. And when it’s used as an adjective, it’s one of those rare modifiers that doesn’t pass the “very” test: You can’t say that something is “very OK” or even “moderately OK” any more than you can say that one thing is “OKer” than another thing.

Despite refusing to play well with intensifying adverbs, “OK” is shockingly versatile—it also moonlights as an adjective, as in “an OK idea;” an adverb, as in “I’m doing OK;” and a noun, as in “give your OK,” not to mention the marvelous “lecturer’s OK,” which is when you look off into the middle distance, mutter “OK” to yourself, and begin to address the room on a new topic. And…