文/杰里米·麥卡特 譯/劉建穩(wěn) 審訂/文力

OK
——小詞大來頭

文/杰里米·麥卡特 譯/劉建穩(wěn) 審訂/文力

Allan Metcalf’s new book claims that the word “OK” is America’s greatest invention. This offers a pair of provocations. How can “OK” be an invention? On a certain day， a certain guy just dreamed up the expression that has become the most frequently spoken word on the planet? And even if it is an invention， can one little word really be greater than jazz， baseball，and the telephone? Is it better than The Simpsons?

[2] The answer to the first question，implausible as it sounds， is yes. In OK:The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word， Metcalf locates the fi rst use of OK in an obscure corner of a Boston newspaper on March 23， 1839.As for the reputed greatness of the word， Metcalf’s slim volume doesn’t entirely persuade you that OK is a more valuable invention than， say， electric light. But the fact that he even raises the question is intriguing. If it does nothing else， Metcalf makes you acutely aware of how ubiquitous and vital the word has become. Once you start noticing OK， you risk becoming like the knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail1英國(guó)著名導(dǎo)演特里·吉列姆（Terty Gilliam）于1975 年拍攝的一部奇幻電影，以調(diào)侃的方式講述了亞瑟王和圓桌騎士們接受上帝的旨意去尋找圣杯，其間歷經(jīng)了對(duì)勇敢、圣潔、智慧和忠誠(chéng)的種種考驗(yàn)并受到巫師指引，前往卡那巴諾格之洞破解圣杯的秘密。who erupt every time somebody says the word “it.”

[3] True story: the world’s most popular word began as a joke. In the late 1830s， America’s newspapers had a mania for abbreviations—also， to judge by Metcalf’s account， a sorry sense of humor. He devotes a chapter to trying to explain why readers of the Boston Morning Post might have been amused to see “o. k.” used as a jokey abbreviation for “oll korrect”， an intentional misspelling of “all correct”.Apparently you had to be there. But the word soon got an enormous boost from Andrew Jackson—or his enemies，anyway. They circulated the rumor that the man of the people was barely literate and approved papers with the initials “O.K.” for “oll korrect.” It was a hoax， Metcalf concludes， “but without it there’d be no OK.”

[4] The word didn’t remain a joke for long. Telegraph operators began using it as a way to say “all clear.” It became ubiquitous， turning up in all corners of the world， and beyond. Metcalf points out that OK was technically the fi rst word spoken on the surface of the moon; it also immediately preceded Todd Beamer2’s heroic charge on 9/11 (“OK， let’s roll.”). To stand out in conversation now， it needs some frippery， like Ned Flander’s “okely dokely”.

[5] What gives this little word its immense and polymorphous appeal?Metcalf offers a couple of explanations，like its aesthetic contrasts: “A circle with an asterisk. Smooth oval， cluster of sticks. Feminine O， masculine K.” It also consists of a series of sounds that can be uttered in almost every language.Meanwhile technology continues to urge it along. Early Apple programmers let users click on two buttons: “Do It”or “Cancel”. When a tester pointed to“Do It” and asked why the computer was calling him a dolt， the “OK”button was born. Now， in the world of the ubiquitous text message， it’s increasingly just “k”.

[6] When you pause to consider what a weird and wonderful little word OK is， the most remarkable thing isn’t that it’s so great or that it was invented but that it’s American. To foreigners in the 20th century， Metcalf writes， the word embodied “American simplicity， pragmatism， and optimism.”To us today， the word encapsulates “a whole two-letter American philosophy of tolerance， even admiration for difference.” Metcalf’s book could use more among these lines. In a time as fractious as this， it’s encouraging to think that two little syllables can help us bridge our differences. Are there worse sayings to rally behind? You betcha. ■

艾倫·梅特卡夫在其新作中聲稱，OK一詞是美國(guó)最偉大的發(fā)明。此言一出，頓時(shí)引發(fā)熱議。OK怎么算得上是發(fā)明？莫非有那么一天，某個(gè)家伙憑空就想到了這種表達(dá)，而這后來就成為地球上使用頻率最高的口語(yǔ)？即使算得上是個(gè)發(fā)明，這么個(gè)小詞難道真比爵士樂、棒球和電話還偉大？比喜劇《辛普森一家》還精彩？

[2]雖然聽起來不可思議，但第一個(gè)問題的答案就是——沒錯(cuò)。在《OK：美國(guó)最偉大單詞的傳奇故事》一書中，梅特卡夫指出，OK一詞最早出現(xiàn)在1839年3月23日波士頓一家報(bào)紙一個(gè)不起眼的角落里。至于該詞所謂的偉大，梅特卡夫這本小冊(cè)子還不足以使你相信，OK是一項(xiàng)比電燈之類更有價(jià)值的發(fā)明。但是他提出這個(gè)問題本身就很吸引人。別的不提，至少梅特卡夫使你強(qiáng)烈意識(shí)到OK已經(jīng)無處不在、不可或缺了。一旦你開始關(guān)注OK，就可能變得像《巨蟒與圣杯》中尋找圣杯的騎士，每每有人提到it這個(gè)詞，就熱血沸騰。

[3]真相是：這個(gè)最受世人喜愛的表達(dá)始于一個(gè)玩笑。19世紀(jì)30年代末，美國(guó)報(bào)業(yè)熱衷于使用縮略詞，在梅特卡夫看來，這種幽默的效果也令人遺憾?！恫ㄊ款D早報(bào)》將all correct有意錯(cuò)拼為oll korrect，并縮寫成o.k.。梅特卡夫用整章篇幅說明為何當(dāng)時(shí)的讀者會(huì)為此發(fā)笑。顯然，生活在那會(huì)兒的人才能夠理解。但是很快，該詞經(jīng)由（美國(guó)總統(tǒng)）安德魯·杰克遜——或許是其政敵——得到大力推廣。政敵散布謠言，宣稱總統(tǒng)沒有什么文化，用oll korrect的首字母O.K.批閱文件。梅特卡夫總結(jié)說，雖然這是一個(gè)惡作劇，“但倘若沒有它，就不會(huì)有OK這個(gè)詞了”。

[4] OK一詞沒過多久就不再是玩笑了。電報(bào)員開始用它來表示all clear（警報(bào)解除）。漸漸地，該詞出現(xiàn)在世界各地，為世人所接受，產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。梅特卡夫指出，嚴(yán)格來說，人類登上月球表面時(shí)說的第一個(gè)詞就是OK，它也是“9·11”那天，托德·比默英勇沖向恐怖分子前說的第一個(gè)詞（“OK，我們行動(dòng)吧！”）。如今，要在談話中引人注意，就得像喜劇《辛普森一家》中的內(nèi)德·弗蘭德那樣加點(diǎn)料，將OK夸張成okely dokely。

[5]到底是什么賦予OK這個(gè)小詞如此巨大而多樣的魅力？對(duì)此梅特卡夫做出了幾點(diǎn)解釋，比如幾組審美對(duì)比：“一個(gè)圓加一顆星。光滑的橢圓加條棒的組合。陰性的O加陽(yáng)性的K?！倍遥瑤缀趺恳环N語(yǔ)言都能讀出這個(gè)詞。與此同時(shí)，技術(shù)行業(yè)也不斷推進(jìn)OK的使用。早期，蘋果公司的程序員要求用戶點(diǎn)擊Do It（執(zhí)行）或Cancel（取消）兩個(gè)鍵。有一次，一個(gè)測(cè)試員指著Do It鍵，詢問計(jì)算機(jī)為什么稱他為笨蛋（dolt），于是OK鍵誕生了?，F(xiàn)在，在這個(gè)短信息充斥的世界里，使用單個(gè)k的人越來越多。

2 2001年“9·11”事件中的平民英雄。劫機(jī)的恐怖分子原本要劫持這架航班去撞擊白宮，但是飛機(jī)上包括托德在內(nèi)的眾多乘客奮勇反擊，與兇殘的恐怖分子展開殊死搏斗，最終全體乘客和恐怖分子同歸于盡，換來了更多無辜民眾的幸存。

[6]當(dāng)你駐足思考OK是多么怪異、多么奇妙時(shí)，最值得注意的并非它是何其偉大或是人為創(chuàng)造的，而是它原產(chǎn)美國(guó)。梅特卡夫?qū)懙?，?duì)20世紀(jì)的外國(guó)人來說，這個(gè)詞體現(xiàn)了“美國(guó)的簡(jiǎn)單樸素、實(shí)用主義和樂觀主義”。對(duì)今天的我們而言，該詞濃縮了“美國(guó)整套的雙字母寬容哲學(xué)，甚至是對(duì)差異的推崇”。梅特卡夫的書可能還有許多類似的言論。在如今這個(gè)沖突易起的時(shí)代，兩個(gè)小小的音節(jié)能起到消除分歧的作用，想起來就令人鼓舞。還有比這更糟的贊辭嗎？當(dāng)然有。 □（譯者單位：武漢輕工大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院）

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