From the Editor's Desk

Made in America: The Ridiculous History of 'OK'

In the early 19th century, new printing technologies dramatically reduced the cost of publishing a daily newspaper, and there was a resulting explosion of inexpensive new dailies known collectively as the penny press. Competing for readers, penny papers in cities like New York, Philadelphia and Boston published not only straight news stories, but also witty takes on the latest political scandals, social scenes and popular trends.

In addition to the abbreviation craze, 19th-century Americans thought it was really funny to purposely misspell stuff. Read, the etymologist, cited the example of the comic writer George W. Arnold, who used the pen name "Joe Strickland" to write mangled letters to his fictional family, like this one from a trip abroad: "when I got here tha axt me if I was evver in Turky before. no ses I. but i've had a darn menny turkeys in me."

Continued here

TradeBriefs: Newsletters for Decision-Makers!

Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails.

Want the newsletters, without the promotional mailers?
Get an (ad-free) subscription to TradeBriefs Premium for just $2 per month.