Shades of Seinfeld: The OK that Saved Kramer’s Skin

Remember that episode in Seinfeld when Kramer very nearly got mugged by a gang of thugs called the Van Buren boys? Kramer was minding his own business, as only Kramer could, eating pizza,when the Boys closed in for the kill. Kramer escaped by throwing up his hands in total panic- somehow he flashed the Van Buren boys’ secret sign and lived! I don’t remember the significance of the sign now but there’s a ridiculous irony to the episode.

The thugs had modelled themselves after the values of Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States. Van Buren, one of the founders of the Democratic Party , was known as the “Little Magician” to his friends (and the “Sly Fox” to his enemies) in recognition of his reputed cunning and skill as a politician (Britannica). Apparently, he was the first ‘dirty trickster’ of the US campaign trail. His crime? Van Buren, ‘Old Kinderhook’, harnassed the word ‘OK’, a crude Americanism, to super-charge his Democratic presidential race. OK, derived in the 1830s from the initial letters of the American dialect form orl korrect (= all correct), rapidly acquired historical associations that gave it wider currency but did not constitute its true origin (Fowlers). Van Buren appropriated the OK symbol during the presidential campaign of 1840. He used it to galvanise the electorate under a new Democratic Party.

No longer regarded as an Americanism, it is possibly the only English word that is universally recognized by speakers of other languages throughout the world. So maybe when the Boys muscled in on Kramer, he flashed their secret sign: OK! Ironic?

It's very interesting to see people discuss about a vogue in China in an international forum .

Why Crazy English is so popular in China? That's because Chinese are very shy in a way. They dare not to speak in English facing a foreigner. Shouting out is a good way to help them establish their confidence.

However, I don't believe in the Crazy English. It might be a good way to establish confidence, but it is not the right way for studying English.

A what? Can you rephrase that?