O.K.?

Hello folks! You may have noticed that we've been M.I.A. recently, and that's because we've been on Spring Break. But, after some much needed R & R, we are back and better than ever. F.Y.I: the deadline for our 2009 Poetry Prize (judged by Natasha Trethewey) is March 31, so you've got a little over a week to get your hottest poems to us--see our website for details.

So, speaking of "M.I.A." and "R&R" and "FYI," I've been thinking about everyone's favorite and overlooked abbreviation, O.K. (Ok, OK, ok, okay). According to history.com, on this day in 1839, the abbreviation "OK" officially entered American vocabulary when a Boston newspaper used it in a joke. Apparently, the cool kids of the era purposefully mispelled "all correct" ("oll correct") and then abbreviated it to use as slang. The newspaper picked it up, followed by politicians, and the rest is, well, history. Check out the whole story at history.com