# okey-dokey



## RADIRO

What's the meaning of "_okey-dokey_". I guess it's an american expression meaning all right, but I'm not sure.


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## ReadingForPleasure

Hi Radiro,

"Okey-dokey" is a way to say "O.K." (<<Non-English word removed>>).

However, it sounds a little dorky (un-cool).

: )


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## panjandrum

It means essentially the same as OK.


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## emma42

It means "yes" or "alright".  It's an expression of agreement.  It's used a lot in British English.  <Non-English words removed.> So:

*A  You will come out tonight, won't you?
B    Okey-dokey, as you've asked so nicely.*

*
Okey-dokey, we all agree that this is the best plan.

*I don't know about AE usage.

I hope this has helped a little.

Edit.  Panjandrum has put it far more succinctly than I!


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## panjandrum

ReadingForPleasure said:


> Hi Radiro,
> 
> "Okey-dokey" is a way to say "O.K." (<Deletion.>).
> 
> However, it sounds a little dorky (un-cool).
> 
> : )


URRGHHH - don't mention that to your fellow-feroro *okey-dokey*


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## drengbcn

Hi Radio,
I agree with ReadingForPleasure, it means ok, but it's kind of uncool. <Reference to Spanish removed.>


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## ReadingForPleasure

Oops... no offense intended to "okey-dokey"!

(Please forgive me.)

: )


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## emma42

Yes, it sounds "dorky" in British English too!


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## river

Doesn't anyone say *Okie* Dokie *Artichokie.*


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## emma42

Only if they wear really unfashionable clothes, river!


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## Wynn Mathieson

Hmm. I wonder just why _okey-dokey_ is considered "dorky" (stupid, inept, or unfashionable).

There's no doubt that it IS so considered, though, by most today. It's something your grandad would say, rather than your grandson, and, most damningly of all, it has a definite air of *affability* about it -- and you can't get much _uncooler_ than that!

Wynn


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## emma42

I think it has an air of coming from a "more innocent age", doesn't it?  Most uncool.


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## cuchuflete

In AE it has fallen out of use over the past three or four decades. It's understood by all, spoken by few, and has the tone and style of a country expression in the mouth of a bus driver or auto repairman in a large city. I don't know whether that makes it dorky, or just very unpretentious and casual.


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## savannah

Wynn Mathieson said:


> Hmm. I wonder just why _okey-dokey_ is considered "dorky" (stupid, inept, or unfashionable).


 

Quite frankly, the only place I've ever heard people regularly, frequently, and sincerely employ _okey-dokey_ in the US is in the midwest.  While it may or may not be undeserved (I won't comment, not being a native midwesterner myself), the reputation of midwesterners is that they are a little dorky and overly-earnest.  I think this is part of why the phrase has such an aura of uncoolness surrounding it.


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## emma42

Wynn puts it very well with his use of "affability".  It's old-fashioned, affable, unpretentious, casual (thank you Cuchu), comfortable, generous.  Like grandad's much-loved old cardigan - it's just not cool.


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## nmarie33

Well I like to think of myself as at least semi-cool, but I have to admit that I say  "okey dokey" all the  time. You almost always say  it in a joking, "haha I'm a dork" sort of way though, I suppose.

nmarie33


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## emma42

Ah, yes - using it in an ironic way.


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## MissFit

savannah said:


> Quite frankly, the only place I've ever heard people regularly, frequently, and sincerely employ _okey-dokey_ in the US is in the midwest. While it may or may not be undeserved (I won't comment, not being a native midwesterner myself), the reputation of midwesterners is that they are a little dorky and overly-earnest. I think this is part of why the phrase has such an aura of uncoolness surrounding it.


 
As a native Midwesterner, I can attest that _okey-dokey_ is used frequently here.  We say it when we intend to sound uncool.  (It's hip to be square, don't y'know!)  Emma42's cardigan comparison rings true to me.

As for our general reputation--Yikes!  I hope that's not the way the rest of the country sees us.  If they do, I suppose that's fair.  We hold equally unfair stereotypes of the rest of the U.S. too.


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## bellerophon

Wynn Mathieson said:


> Hmm. I wonder just why _okey-dokey_ is considered "dorky" (stupid, inept, or unfashionable).



I think that good-ole Goofy (of Disney fame) used to say it with a trademark "Uh-huh" to punch it out.  In terms of it being unfashionable or old-fashioned, it may be because of its popularity back in the age of "Leave it to Beaver".

A little searching pointed to its first appearance in the 1930s.


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## shoobydoowap

In Kentucky, I hear this phrase used every once in a while. It does sound a bit childish, so if I were to use it, I would be slightly sarcastic or trying to sound humorous (but just a little).


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## emma42

The same in England for people of my generation.


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## panjandrum

A report from the linguistic front:
I have heard both okey-dokey and okey-doke several times this week.
Both came from relatively young people - under 30


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## river

Ah, this proves that "okey-dokey" is not just a midwestern thing.


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## emma42

Thanks, Panj.   I have not heard it round these parts since 1912.  I obviously need to get out more.


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## RADIRO

Thanks a lot everybody for your quick and detailed answers. You haven't waited for the grass to grow, indeed. Yet, I'm not sure about how dorky "okey-dokey" may sound. I guess it depends on the place and social environment.


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## JonRT

RADIRO said:


> What's the meaning of "_okey-dokey_". I guess it's an american expression meaning all right, but I'm not sure.


With regards to those who have commented that it sounds uncool or dorky - if you’re trying to impress people, or to sound cool (aka impress people) then that’s the only reason that this would generally matter. My family, friends, and I say Okeydokey on a regular basis, and you hear it all the time in general. Of course, it’s quite colloquial, but i wouldn’t be concerned about “sounding dorky/uncool”. If you’re trying to impress people then you may have other issues that you should address instead of deciding on whether to say okeydokey.


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## Keith Bradford

I don't know where people get the idea that this is not a common expression.  It was invented in the USA in 1931, coming to Britain ten years later, and remained popular during the war years.  It dropped from favour in 1960 and then climbed back to a new peak of quadrupled popularity as recently as 2012.

Source Google Books Ngram Viewer


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## kentix

It's not so common where I live. It's one of those "I hear it once in a while" things and I would expect it's used with a touch of self-deprecating humor many of those times.


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## heypresto

I said, well wrote, it only yesterday. Twice.


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## Myridon

I've heard it at least 10 times in the last two weeks - some of those in the form of "okey-dokey, artichokey."  It's all too common.


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## srk

There was an ad on radio a few years ago, and I can't quite reconstruct the ad's motive in my mind.  Someone working in an office is speaking to a secretary on the phone.  "I hope you understand.  That letter absolutely has to go out today.  My job depends on it."  In a bright voice, the secretary replies "Okey-dokey." Anyone who hears the ad knows that the letter writer's job is toast.


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## srk

Keith Bradford said:


> I don't know where people get the idea that this is not a common expression.


Maybe from here.  Of course, it only shows that the expression is not common in books.


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## Keith Bradford

I see where you're coming from (though I was talking only yesterday to my wife about _antidisestablishmentarianism_).  My point was that _okey-dokey_ is more common nowadays than in the past, contrary to what people tried to maintain in posts 13 and 24.


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## Myridon

srk said:


> Maybe from here.  Of course, it only shows that the expression is not common in books.


Keep in mind there's more than one way to spell it.  There's also okely-dokely (however that's spelled) from The Simpsons.  That should be in a book and I can't find it at all.


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## JonRT

srk said:


> Maybe from here.  Of course, it only shows that the expression is not common in books.


I don’t remembering ever seeing it in books, but in colloquial conversation it seems to be quite common - at least, in these parts.


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## srk

Myridon said:


> Keep in mind there's more than one way to spell it.



I did have that in mind.  The hyphen requires some extra effort.  Here's a template for experimentation: Ngrams

You may be right about *a* book for The Simpsons version:  Book Search


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## Roxxxannne

I hear okey-doke or okey-dokey very often.


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## Loob

I can't remember the last time I heard (still less _said) _okey-dokey.


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## heypresto

It's more common than 'righty-ho' and 'right you are', but less common, sadly, than 'like, I'm so on it.'


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## stinson

Okey-dokey in its most common usage is an interjection meaning, "Yes, I heard you, and I agree (or will comply.)"

In New Jersey it is used as a noun, a term of derision. It describes deflection, a non-answer.  It reflects the deceptively happy tone of a response that fails to address the subject of a question.

"I asked her when the product would be delivered."

"She gave me the okey-dokey."


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## pob14

I’ve _never_ heard it in the wild, except when my kids were in preschool and were taught the aforementioned “okey-dokey-artichokey.”


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## Roxxxannne

A friend of mine said "okey-dokey" to me about three hours ago.


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## heypresto

And then there's Ned Flanders:


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## kentix

I've heard it here and there over the years.


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## Roxxxannne

Okely-dokely (#43) is totally different.


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