A-ok
Encyclopedia
Okay
"Okay" is a colloquial English word denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, or acknowledgment. "Okay" has frequently turned up as a loanword in many other languages...
, and a hand-gesture
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
done by connecting the thumb
Thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position , the thumb is the lateral-most digit...
and forefinger in to a circle (the O), and holding the other fingers straight or relaxed in the air.
Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
symbol U+1F44C () represents this gesture.
Etymology
US Air Force Lt. Col. John "Shorty" PowersJohn A. Powers
John Anthony Powers , better known as Shorty Powers, was an American public affairs officer for NASA from 1959 to 1963 during Project Mercury...
popularized the expression "A-OK" while NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's public affairs
Office of Public Affairs
The NASA Office of Public Affairs is tasked with media and public relations. Its mission is to "provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information to the media and general public concerning NASA activities and results" The function was created in the National...
officer for Project Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
, attributing it to astronaut Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...
during his Freedom 7 flight. In his book The Right Stuff, however, author Tom Wolfe wrote that Powers had borrowed it from NASA engineers who used it during radio transmission tests because the sharper sound of A cut through the static better than O. Apparently, the first documented use "A-OK" is contained within a memo from Tecwyn Roberts
Tecwyn Roberts
Tecwyn Roberts was a Welsh-born, American spaceflight engineer who in the 1960s played important roles in designing the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and creating NASA’s worldwide tracking and communications network...
, Flight Dynamics Officer, to Flight Director (entitled "Report on Test 3805", dated Feb. 2, 1961) in penciled notes on the countdown of MR-2, dated Jan. 31, 1961.
Multiple meanings
While the gesture is positive in some countries, in certain parts of middle and southern EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(although not in Spain or Portugal) the gesture is considered offensive, as in you are a zero or you are nothing. In some Mediterranean countries, as well as in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, it represents vulgar expressions: either an insult (you are an asshole
Asshole
The word asshole, a variant of arsehole, which is still prevalent in British and Australian English, is a term used pejoratively to describe the anus.-History:...
), or the slang for anus itself. In Brazil it can either mean okay or up yours! if the palm of the hand is faced to the performer, especially the performer's torso. By the same symbolism, it stands for marica (faggot) in several South American countries.
The 'A-OK' gesture is also associated with the circle game, in which players attempt to trick other players into looking at the 'A-OK' below their waist.
Positive connotation
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, it can either mean okay or zero.
In Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, it is used to celebrate ending of the national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. During their final day in the Finnish Defence Forces
Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. It is a cadre army of 15,000, of which 8,900 are professional soldiers , extended with conscripts and reservists such that the standard readiness strength is 34,700 people in uniform...
, conscripts use it denote they have zero days left in their service, and that they will receive an honorable discharge during the course of that day. It is also used to tease and taunt
Taunt
A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to demoralize the recipient, or to anger them and encourage reactionary behaviors without thinking. Taunting can exist as a form of social competition to gain control of the target's cultural capital...
other conscripts that still have various numbers of days left, and are stuck while their comrades are allowed to leave. Colloquially, it is referred to as the TJ0 or 'Tänään jäljellä 0 aamua', which translates to 'Zero mornings left today'. The official TJ counter can be viewed on the Finnish Defence Forces website.
In underwater diving
Diving signal
Diver communications are the methods used by divers to communicate with each other or with surface members of the dive team.There are several distinct forms of diver communications:...
, it widely means both Are you okay?, and its response Yes, I'm OK, or just I'm OK. It can be confusing for beginners, because using the thumbs up gesture rather than the A-OK gesture signals that the person making that gesture wants to ascend (to the surface).
In Macedonia, in addition to meaning OK, it is also a nationalistic United Macedonia salute
United Macedonia salute
The United Macedonia salute is a salute with the thumb and pointing finger shaped in a circle and the left over three fingers pointing up, used by some nationalist Macedonians in Macedonia as well among Macedonians in the diaspora, advocating the irredentist concept of United Macedonia.- Meanings...
. The two fingers in a circle symbolize the letter O, which is the first letter of the Macedonian word Обединета (Obedineta) meaning united, referring to a United Macedonia
United Macedonia
United Macedonia is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia in southeastern Europe, which they claim as their homeland, and which they assert was wrongfully divided under the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, into a single...
. The other three fingers symbolize the three regions of Macedonia: Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
, Aegean Macedonia
Aegean Macedonia
Aegean Macedonia is a term that refers to the Greek region of Macedonia. It is currently mainly used in the Republic of Macedonia, including in the irredentist context of a United Macedonia. The term is also used in Bulgaria as the more common synonym for Greek Macedonia, without the connotations...
, and Pirin Macedonia. The five fingers as a whole resemble the Vergina Sun
Vergina Sun
The Vergina Sun — also known as the Star of Vergina, Macedonian star, or Argead Star — is the name given to a symbol of a stylised star or sun with sixteen rays. It was unearthed in 1977 during excavations in Vergina, in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, by archaeologist Manolis Andronikos...
, which was Macedonia's flag from 1992 to 1995.
In basketball, players throw up this sign to show they just made a three pointer.
A similar gesture, the Vitarka mudra ("mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
of discussion") is the gesture of discussion and transmission of Buddhist teaching.
Negative connotation
This gesture resembles the American Sign LanguageAmerican Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
sign for the number 9, and when made with the thumb and forefinger parallel to the ground, asshole.
In Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, it is a very offensive gesture, regarded as a reference to homosexuality, and reflecting a wider than usual (due to anal sex) anus
Anus
The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
of a homosexual man. In Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
too, but it is upside-down with the middle, ring and little fingers pointing down.. In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
it is also an offensive gesture, equivalent to showing the middle finger
Middle finger
The middle finger or long finger is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is usually the longest finger...
.
In most continental European countries, when the sign is placed over the nose, with the nose protruding through the O made by the thumb and forefinger, it means drunk.
In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, it also means zero or money.
In Chinese number gestures
Chinese number gestures
Chinese number gestures are a method of using one hand to signify the natural numbers one through ten. This method may have been developed to bridge the many varieties of Chinese—for example, the numbers 4 and 10 are hard to distinguish in some dialects...
, it is the hand gesture for number three.
In Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, if the hand gesture is slightly tilted it may mean "culo" (anus), used to refer to a coward.
In the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, this sign is used as a threatening gesture, as in saying: "You'll see!".