OK is *not* a word, and other spelling rants

[PastMember]

OK is NOT a word.  It is okay.  

It is Dream's End Weyr, not Dreamsend.

It is Amethyst Cliff Hold, not Cliffs.

It is Dragonsfall Weyr, not Dragon's Fall or Dragonfalls.

It is Topaz Sea Hold, not Topaz Hold.

It is Jade Harbour Hold, not Jade Harbor.


And unless it owns something, or the contraction is for IT IS, apostrophes have no place in "dragonriders", "blueriders", etc.

*grumbling Angie*  :confused:

[PastMember]

OK - I'll try to remember those.

:duck:

[PastMember]

*laughs*  Estelle, most days you could correct my grammar and spelling, not the other way around!


And for the ones who'll hit me with:

"But OK is in the dictionary"

from Websters:

Main Entry: 1OK
Variant(s): or okay  /O-'kA, in assenting or agreeing also 'O-"kA/
Function: adverb or adjective
Etymology: abbreviation of oll korrect, facetious alteration of all correct

OK is an ABBREVIATION.  Okay is the formal spelling, and please use it.  OK is lazy, and only saves you one keystroke anyway (after all, you still have to hit the shift key!!!).

[PastMember]

I always wondered what okay stood for . . .

[emma]

Just for the record - from a UK english dictionary

OK1 [ṓ káy] or okay [ṓ káy]
interj (informal)
1.  indicating agreement: used to indicate agreement to or approval of what somebody said or did
'Can you help?''OK. What do you want me to do?'
 
2.  used to check for approval: used at the end of a statement to inquire whether somebody has understood and agrees with or approves of what was said
It's your job to make the arrangements, OK?
 
3.  used to indicate finishing something: used to indicate that something is finished and that something else will now be done or discussed
OK, let's move to the next item on the agenda.
 


adj (informal)
1.  passable: acceptable or tolerable but not exceptional
It's OK for a first effort.
 
2.  rather good or pleasant: better than just satisfactory or acceptable
Her parents are OK; we get on quite well.
 
3.  physically well: in good health or condition
I'll be OK if I can just sit down for a minute.
 
4.  allowable: acceptable to somebody or permissible
Is it OK for me to call home on the office phone?
 


adv
fairly well: in an acceptable, tolerable, or satisfactory manner (informal)
Everything's going OK, except that we're a little bit behind schedule.
 


vt (3rd person present singular OK's, present participle OK'ing, past OK'ed, past participle OK'ed) (3rd person present singular okays, present participle okaying, past okayed, past participle okayed) (informal)
1.  give approval for something: to approve of or consent to something
I just need you to OK the agenda.
 
2.  obtain somebody's consent: to obtain somebody's approval of or consent to something
I'll need to OK that with my boss.
 


n (plural OK's) (plural okays)
approval: approval to do something or consent to something (informal)
As soon as she gives the OK, we'll start work.

[PastMember]

Too bad that wouldn't have passed muster (not mustard folks) with my Composition professor.

I missed having a perfect score in her class because I used "OK" instead of "all right".  It was considered "Slanglish".

[emma]

I apologise - I think this is due to differences in what is perceived as good spelling and grammar on this side of the atlantic.

I went on a written communication course for work and was actually told that it is acceptable to use OK....

[PastMember]

Methinks it is something to do with "casual writing" versus "formal".

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.  1993.
 
O.K., o.k., OK, ok, okay, okeh (adv., adj., n., v.)
 
 
As adverb (The motor's working O.K.), adjective (I'm OK again now), noun (Please get your supervisor's okay), and verb (Will she OK it?), the term okay has very wide use, but it should be limited to Conversational, Informal, or Semiformal use. (The noun occurs frequently in print media these days.) The abbreviation is written with and without the periods but usually with both letters capitalized. Okay is the only current spelled-out version; okeh is obsolete.  

  Avoid letting O.K. overwhelm your speech, especially as a mechanical appeal for concurrence; it is a kind of tic in some speech, especially of the young, as in "O.K., now here's what I have in mind, O.K.? We'll leave at six, O.K.? and I think you'll really enjoy it, O.K.?"

My main objection is that it really *is* an abbreviation, no matter how you look at it, just like etc, ie, and so forth.  But since half the time it's usage is as a character's speech, okay is going to be part of their language most likely.


:haloslip:

Be glad I'm not someone I knew in a prior Pern club who used to chase people around regularly for all sorts of slang and anachronisms.

[PastMember]

Oklahoma!  OK!


I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I just couldn't resist...

[PastMember]

English major steppin' forward! *g*

O.K. is the abbreviation, and therefore if you're going to use it for literature, then you'd use the 'proper' form of 'okay.'  At least that's what I learned.

Of course, I'm still getting used to seeing 'learnt' 'leant' and burnt'. *cringes"  But a Canadian showed me a dictionary and the Canadian edition had it.

My only major pet peeves are the use of 'alright' instead of 'all right'...'tis two words no matter how many popular novelists have sloppy editors that let it slip through...again, that's what I learned in English.

That, and seeing improper syntax when writing dialogue.

"He went left." He said.  instead of:

"He went left," he said. (correct form)

Oh and worse than seeing the Holds spelled improperly is when you're in the middle of a post and see it abbreviated! LOL...

~Nici, who is done nattering on now...

[PastMember]

nicely nattered

[Paula]

Commenting as a non-native englishspeaker, as we are talking about grammar here:
I've always had a problem with english punctuation. I'm never sure where those ,,, goes. In finnish I now instinctly when to put a comma but in english? *shugs*
:puzzled:

[PastMember]

Actually Paula, your sentence syntax is better than some English language speakers! *g*

I think most simply don't pay attention--it's really funny when you see avid readers who can't figure out where the  little comma goes!

~Nici

[PastMember]

I will admit to being a bit comma-disadvantaged.  I once had a composition teacher tell me my paper looked like I spilled a pepper shaker on it.

[Paula]

Thank you Nici, paying attention to what you're writing does help.
Maybe we should turn Finnish as the official Triad-language, so everybody would have to pay attention to what they write.
(tries to picture americans struggling with douple consonants, long and short vowels, fifteen different cases and the suffixes... goes behind the corner to laugh her head off)
:rofl: