A-OK
Writing & Everyday abbreviation · Everyday
| Stands for | All OK (perfectly fine) |
|---|---|
| Categories | Writing & Everyday |
A-OK stands for All OK (perfectly fine), an everyday abbreviation.
Means everything is in excellent working order or entirely satisfactory, an emphatic form of OK. It is used in casual speech and writing, often to reassure.
Example: The mechanic checked the brakes and said everything was A-OK for the road trip.
Usage notes
The phrase was popularized during NASA's Mercury program in 1961, when public affairs officer John "Shorty" Powers attributed it to astronaut Alan Shepard during his suborbital flight; Shepard later said he had simply said "OK." It is usually hyphenated and capitalized, with A-okay as a variant spelling.