The origins of OK?

[¿ Jesse Pawman ?]

I recently read that the original meaning of "OK" comes out of wars in or with English speaking countries.
If a combat troup comes back from the front without casualties (dead victims), somebody would show a sign to the waiting headquarter from far to indicate that "zero were killed", and on the sign you could read "OK".
Any truth in that?

[Pibi]

Intrigue topic  :snicker:
In Wikipedia says:

-The earliest claimed usage of okay is a 1790 court record from Sumner County, Tennessee, USA discovered in 1859 by a Tennessee historian named Albigence Waldo Putnam, in which Andrew Jackson apparently said:
"proved a bill of sale from Hugh McGary to Gasper Mansker, for a Negro man, which was O.K."

[WingedZephyr]

I recently read that the original meaning of "OK" comes out of wars in or with English speaking countries.
If a combat troup comes back from the front without casualties (dead victims), somebody would show a sign to the waiting headquarter from far to indicate that "zero were killed", and on the sign you could read "OK".
Any truth in that?

I dunno for sure whether it's true or not, but it sounds like it makes sense. Especially since the "OK" hand sign looks like a zero.

[Thaddeus Q. Wolfe]

makes sense.  ??? where'd dude come from then?

[[D.E.M] zetsumei]

both of the suggestions in some of the above comments are reasonable, i have no idea where OK came from, but shouldnt the casualty number be OKIA then? (KIA=Killed In Action)

[Thaddeus Q. Wolfe]

okia could have been shortened, but how that would have come into common use is a bit obscure.

[ephemral]

OK-okay or 0k-zero killed?
They likely had similar if not shared origins as it wouldn't have happened over night
and would depend on people doing it for a bit before it became something of itself.
I wouldn't doubt if there were many more uses of it that could count as an origin.