America – What you will love here:
- American anthem – the famous Star-Spangled Banner
- American flag – the flag with thirteen stripes and fifty stars
- Baseball – a traditional headdress of Americans who managed to win great popularity around the world
- Banjo – perhaps the most “American” musical instrument
- Hollywood smile – the envy object of many people not just in the U.S. but around the world
- Jeans – another American invention conquered the world
- The U.S. dollar is one of the most famous and strongest currencies in the world
- Uncle Sam – the famous image of the U.S., known far beyond the country as an old man with a beard and a hat
- Gold Rush – a period in U.S. history, which gave America many millionaires and the whole cycle of the great works of Jack London
- Cowboy hat – a constant attribute of brave explorers of the Wild West
- Cowboy boots – practical and at the same time damn stylish footwear for men and women
- Okay – maybe one of the most famous “Americanisms” in the world
- Rodeo – The U.S. entertainment with Spanish roots.
- Tobacco – is it worth to blame only one of Christopher Columbus?
- Cheerleading – a traditional form of support for their favorite team in the U.S.
…OK (Окей, Okay)
“Okay” – perhaps one of the most popular Americanisms, which means “all right” or something similar, the expression “OK” is used by millions of people of different ages and backgrounds around the world. For many years, there are disputes and various theories are born, how and when this expression appeared. Among the many theories of the origin of popular expression may be mentioned, for example, this: during the Civil War in the United States by the expression OK it designated zero casualties among the soldiers (OK – zero killed / 0 killed).
There are also options that assume the borrowing of this expression from other languages such as Greek, which is the expression «ola kala», the language of one of the Indian tribes, in which there is the word Okah, and even from the language of the western coast of Africa. The first appearance of the expression in print is dated 1839 year – then in the newspaper «Boston Morning Post» an article was published, in which the words «OK – all correct» presented; It is assumed that it was from the moment of deliberately and purposely misspelled (no AC) expression began to gain popularity. Obviously, the popularity of the expression has also increased because of the use of slogan «Vote for OK» in 1840 during the presidential election as one of the slogans for the campaign of Martin Van Buren’s; so it was interpreted the nickname «Old Kinderhook» belonged to Martin Van Buren who was originally from the village Kinderhook, New York. It is likely that the spread of the American expression around the world was significantly thanks to the First and Second World Wars, with the participation of American troops.
Sign «OK», when the thumb and index fingers are bent and joined to form a circle, has also become very popular around the world, however, it is worth noting that in different countries, it can mean different, often completely opposite things, and even abuse.