The meaning of a-OK varies depending on location. It originated in WWII radio broadcasts to indicate a message was received, but its origin is debated. In some areas, it is offensive slang. The hand gesture is used in scuba diving, but can also indicate intoxication or have vulgar meanings in other cultures.
The term a-OK has different connotations depending on where in the world the user is when using the term. Typically attributed to an “anything goes” or “anything goes” statement, the origin of the term is often a matter of debate. Some argue that the American term a-OK was first used in WWII in radio broadcasting to mean that a particular message was received all OK or when signaling that troops were all right. Others argue that the term was initiated by the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) during the GEMINI phase. When used in other areas of the world, a-OK is very derogatory slang and is very offensive to most of the people it is addressed to.
When used in NASA radio broadcasts, a-OK relies on the ability of A to be heard more clearly in a poor signal than OK alone. Poor radio reception and weak signals were responsible for many military errors due to misunderstandings in the early days of World War II. Radio communication required users to reinvent a kind of language that could be easily understood even among the static radio waves so common. By adding a letter in front of a basic word like a-OK instead of just OK, broadcasts could be better identified and clearly understood.
Different accents and languages often conflicted when sending or receiving radio messages on the battlefield. The term a-OK is often used when scuba diving to mean that everything is going well. It is commonly displayed with a hand gesture by rotating the thumb and forefinger and keeping the rest of the fingers spread. This is done primarily because the thumbs-up signal which would commonly indicate all is well actually means surfacing when underwater. In the Mediterranean area, the term and sign a-OK is often taken as an insult and can actually mean anus in some areas, while in others it is referred to as Satan’s number.
The hand signal for a-OK is often used in Central Europe to indicate intoxication. When used in this connotation, the giver’s nose is placed within the “o” created when giving the a-OK sign, indicating that someone is drunk. The same sign shown by a Japanese can mean that he has no money. In Turkish areas the sign is a vulgar reference to male homosexuality. In most European countries and the United States, it usually means that everything is going well.
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