The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-09-18

THE ORIGIN OF COX"
THE FAMOUS ABBREvlATIoN PROB
ABLY CAME FROM THE cHocTAW.
Andrew JachHon the First to Use the Ex-
Translation of . Choctaw
word-Ext-act from an Old
. 40 r~r.rr.rrs Court Record. ....
[American Magazine Il History !

tAmerican Magazine It History.l
In the language Of the Choctaw Indians,
one Of the most frequently recurring az
pressions Is the emphatic oke, with which
an affirmation or denial Is concluded. This
oke pronounced with strong accent on tho
last syllable) Is one Of the substitutes for the
copulative verb ito bep which Is wanting In
Choctaw. Oks, as pronounced In Choctaw,
has exactly the same sound as the alpha
bette pronunciation Of the o. K. in English.
The meaning Of the expression, as nearly
IS ii can be conveyed in English, Is: "That
Is true; that il all So" A few examples,
out Of many that might be cited, will illus
trate this ~The Choctaw Indian Is q good
fellow" Is expressed thus; Hattak api huma
Chahta ackukmah oke, In which hattak api
huma means "Indiann Qitsraliy, man. body
red), achukmah means good" and clrs IL
this copulativs expression. ut Il So" In the
Rav. Cyrus Byington's Choctaw New Tests-
ment the first sentence Of Matt. s, Is: "Ys
are the salt of the earth" Is; gakni in huppi
huchchia hoke, literally; 3the earth its salt
ye; that IL So" h@-
To Gen. Andrew jackson Is attributed the
intoduction Of the Choctaw word into our
Anglo American speech. Before the war Of
1912, in voyages up and down the Missis
sippi and In trading expeditions overland
from Nashville, Tenn. to Natchez, Miss,
through the Choctaw nation, he was brought
into frequent communication with the
Choctaws. .--.
Cen jackson, ss everybody knows, was
prone to the use OF downright and energetic
methods OF assertion. Hearing this en-
phatic oks so frequently uttered by the
Choctaw people, he learned the meaning
conveyed by IL to the Choctaw mind and
appropriated it, out Of hand, to his own
purpo o.; From him 1t passed over to the
multitude. This account Of the origin Of o.
X. has been current in the south for many
years. II not trus, 1t IL, TO say the least,
ben trovato. eHugIl e.E #as
No one who has ever read an autograph
letter OF Gen. Jackson's will easily credit the
story that he was in the habit, whom he was
president Of the United States, Of indorsing,
in kaltem bluts. applications for Office, with
the letters o. K, under the belief that these
were the proper initials for 1all correct
Jack on was no scholar. bus he was not 90
grossly ignorant Of English photography Is
to fall into blundsr Of that sort He may
have indorssd document, with the letters
o. X. as jocular symbol OF his favorite
Choctaw expression. The story that these
letters were seriously intended by him as an
6OpI6VlAuOn OF Oli kOTT6Cs was pTOpAuiyy
rs Mr.. George Bancroft suggests, an q
po,teriori invention Of tho enemy-to wit
the Whigs-during the hot political contests
In the days Of the roaring 40's r-
That the abbreviation o. K. was coined BY
jackson himself and used by him long years
before 1t passed into current slang, finds
curious confirmation in an extract from the
old court records Of Sumner county, Tenn,
quoted by Parton in his 4Life OF jackson,
vol. !, page 1856: r .@M
October 8. 17y0. Andrew jackson, ESQ.
proved bill Of sale from Hugh McGary K
Casper Mansker, for negro man. whicl
was o. K" "a common western mistake,
adds Mr.. Parton, 9for o. R, which mean
Ordered Recorded. Hence, perhaps th1
saying o. XII % .ss #a..G taE. Z-gE 81
1t is not more likely that the @. X. Of thi
entry was suggested by jackson himself, .
brief way Of saying, after the Choctay
fashion. that the claim had been legally
made QUIT ~. -. =. .-... (