In Finnish we have “kissanristiäiset” (literally means a cat’s christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.

  • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    9 months ago

    Anybody here ever think about the etymology of the word “ok”?

    Supposedly it started as an abbreviation of “oll korrect” and became popular in the 1840’s during a fad of abbreviating words a lot like we have “lol” or “omg” today. Then the abbreviation took on its own meaning and became one of the most widely used words to be borrowed by other languages, with a near universal meaning.

    Now it even has its own word based on the pronunciation of the abbreviation, “okay”.

    The equivalent of that would be if the word “lol” became synonymous with laughter over the next 150 years to the point where the words “laugh out loud” look alien and outdated.

    • Yawnder@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      12
      ·
      9 months ago

      I’ve heard that ok was from “0 kills”, which was a good thing.

      • Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        9 months ago

        I don’t know why you’re getting down voted. I’m pretty sure I read an article that had both etymologies, with the consensus that no one really knows the truth.

        • Yawnder@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          I guess people don’t use the up/down votes the same way I do, but anyways it’s not like it matters 😛