document_title: AC/DC

question_text: where did the band acdc get their name

question_tokens: where did the band acdc get their name

text: AC/DC

text: History[edit]

text: Background and name[edit]

text: Brothers Malcolm, Angus, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Sydney with most of their family in 1963. George was the first to learn to play the guitar. He became a member of The Easybeats, one of Australia's most successful bands of the 1960s. In 1966, they became the first local rock act to have an international hit, with the song "Friday on My Mind".[19] Malcolm followed in George's footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales, band called the Velvet Underground (not to be confused with the New York-based Velvet Underground).[20] Their older brother Alex Young chose to remain in Britain to pursue musical interests. In 1967, Alexander formed and played bass in the London-based band Grapefruit—initially called "The Grapefruit"—with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, John Perry, Geoff Swettenham, and Pete Swettenham.

text: Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music.[21][22] "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia.[23][24] The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the "AC" and "DC" and has been used on all studio albums, with the exception of the international version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.[25]

text: Early years[edit]

text: In November 1973, Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer.[26] Pushing hard for the band's success were Australia's legendary roadie Ray Arnold and his partner Alan Kissack. Gene Pierson booked the band to play at Bondi Lifesaver on New Year's Eve, 1973.[27]

text: By this time, Angus Young had adopted his characteristic school-uniform stage outfit. The idea was his sister Margaret's. Angus had tried other costumes: Spider-Man, Zorro, a gorilla, and a parody of Superman, named Super-Ang.[20] In its early days, most members of the band dressed in some form of glam or satin outfit.

text: On stage, Evans was occasionally replaced by the band's first manager, Dennis Laughlin, who was the original lead singer with Sherbet prior to Daryl Braithwaite. Evans did not get along with Laughlin, which also contributed to the band's ill feeling toward Evans.[28] By the middle of 1974, the band had built up a strong live reputation which led to a support slot for the visiting Lou Reed.

text: Some time in 1974, on the recommendation of Michael Chugg, veteran Melbourne promoter Michael Browning booked the band to play at his club the Hard Rock. Browning had previously managed Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, unsuccessfully trying to break them into the UK market. He did not like their glam rock image and felt that Evans was the wrong singer for the band, but was impressed by the Young brothers' guitar playing. Shortly afterwards, he received a call from the band; Laughlin had quit as manager, and they were stuck in Adelaide with no money. Browning agreed to bail them out and booked them for another gig at the Hard Rock. Following the gig, they agreed to take him on as their new manager, with the co-operation of their older brother George and Harry Vanda.[29]

text: The Young brothers decided to abandon the glam rock image which had already been adopted by Melbourne band The Skyhooks and pursue a harder blues-rock sound. To this end they agreed that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group.[28] Around this time, they also moved their base to Melbourne, where they frequently played at the Hard Rock.

text: Bon Scott era (1974–1980)[edit]

text: Beginnings (1974–1975)[edit]

text: In September 1974, Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, an experienced vocalist and friend of George Young, replaced Dave Evans[30] after friend Vince Lovegrove recommended him to George Young.[8] Like the Young brothers, Scott was born in Scotland and emigrated to Australia in his childhood. The band had recorded only one single with Evans, "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl" / "Rockin' in the Parlour"; eventually, the song was re-written and re-recorded with Bon Scott as "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" [Track 7 on the Australian album TNT (1975), and Track 6 on the international release of High Voltage (1976)].

text:
"It's a Long Way to the Top" (1975)

The second single of High Voltage demonstrates a combination of the bagpipes with more traditional rock instruments while the lyrics discuss the perils of being in a rock band.

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text: By October 1974, the Australia-only album High Voltage had been recorded. It took only ten days[31] and was based on instrumental songs written by the Young brothers, with lyrics added by Scott. Within a few months, the band's line-up had stabilised, featuring Scott, the Young brothers, bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd. Later that year they released the single "It's a Long Way to the Top", for which a well-known promotional video was made for the program Countdown, featuring the band miming the song on the back of a flatbed truck. The song is regarded as their perennial rock anthem.[32] It was included on their second album, TNT (1975), which was also released only in Australia and New Zealand. T.N.T. featured the song "High Voltage", which was the first song written and recorded for the album. Because "High Voltage" was released as a single before T.N.T. was released, some people thought it was the title track to AC/DC's debut album.

text: AC/DC were scheduled to play at the 1975 Sunbury music festival, however they went home without performing following an altercation with the management of headlining act Deep Purple.[33]

text: Between 1974 and 1977, aided by regular appearances on Molly Meldrum's Countdown, the ABC's nationally broadcast pop-music television show, AC/DC became one of the most popular and successful acts in Australia. Their performance on 3 April 1977 was their last live TV appearance for more than 20 years.[31]

text: International success (1976–1980)[edit]

text: Browning sent promo material to contacts in London, which came to the attention of Phil Carson of Atlantic Records. In 1976, the band signed an international deal with Atlantic Records. On arrival in London, their scheduled tour with Back Street Crawler was cancelled following the death of Paul Kossoff. As a result, they went back to playing smaller venues to build a local following until their label organized the "Lock Up Your Daughters" tour sponsored by Sounds magazine, the only major music magazine which was still relatively receptive to traditional rock music. At the time, punk rock was breaking out in London and came to dominate the pages of the major music weeklies, NME and Melody Maker. AC/DC were sometimes identified with the punk rock movement by the British press, however in reality they hated punk rock, believing it to be a passing fad - according to manager Michael Browning "it wasn't possible to even hold a conversation with AC/DC about punk without them getting totally pissed off".[29] Their reputation, however, managed to survive the punk upheavals of the late 1970s, and they maintained a cult following in the UK throughout this time.[7] Angus Young gained notoriety for mooning the audience during live performances.

text: The first AC/DC album to gain worldwide distribution was a 1976 compilation of tracks taken from the High Voltage and T.N.T. LPs. Also titled High Voltage, and released on the Atlantic Records label, the album has to date sold three million copies worldwide.[34][35] The track selection was heavily weighted toward the more recent T.N.T., and included only two songs from their first LP. The band's next album, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, was released in the same year in both Australian and international versions, like its predecessor. Track listings varied worldwide, and the international version of the album also featured the T.N.T. track "Rocker", which had previously never been released internationally. The original Australian version included "Jailbreak" (now more readily available on the 1984 compilation EP '74 Jailbreak or as a live version on the 1992 Live album). Dirty Deeds was not released in the US until 1981, by which time the band were at the peak of their popularity.

text: After a brief tour of Sweden, they returned to London where they set new attendance records during their residency at the Marquee. However, their appearance at the 1976 Reading Festival failed to get a response from the crowd. They toured extensively throughout Europe, then returned to tour Australia in late 1976 to rebuild their finances and record the Let There Be Rock album.

text: In early 1977 they returned to Britain and began a European tour with Black Sabbath. While Bon Scott and Ozzy Osbourne quickly became friends, relations were less than cordial between the other members of the respective bands. In one incident, Geezer Butler pulled a knife on Malcolm Young.[36] Later in the year they toured with Rainbow.

text: Towards the end of 1977, bassist Mark Evans was fired; purportedly to find someone who could sing backup vocals.[8] Evans described disagreement with Angus and Malcolm as a contributing factor.[8] He was replaced by Cliff Williams.[8] Neither of the Young brothers has elaborated on the departure of Evans, though Richard Griffiths, the CEO of Epic Records and a booking agent for AC/DC in the mid-1970s, later commented, "You knew Mark wasn't going to last, he was just too much of a nice guy."[20] Mark Evans' autobiography, DIRTY DEEDS: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC, released in 2011, predominantly dealt with his time in AC/DC, including being fired.[37]

text: AC/DC were a somewhat formative influence on new wave of British heavy metal bands who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Saxon and Iron Maiden, in part as a reaction to the decline of traditional early 1970s hard rock bands. In 2007, critics noted that AC/DC, along with Thin Lizzy, UFO, Scorpions and Judas Priest, were among "the second generation of rising stars ready to step into the breach as the old guard waned."[38]

text: AC/DC's first American exposure was through the Michigan radio station AM 600 WTAC in 1977. The station's manager, Peter C. Cavanaugh, booked the band to play at Flint's Capitol Theater. The supporting act was MC5, who had just briefly reunited and agreed to play at the event. The band opened with their popular song "Live Wire" and closed with "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)".[39] They gained invaluable experience of the stadium circuit, supporting leading rock acts such as Aerosmith, Kiss, Styx, UFO, and Blue Öyster Cult, and co-headlined with Cheap Trick.[31]

text: The 1978 release of Powerage marked the debut of bassist Cliff Williams, and with its harder riffs, followed the blueprint set by Let There Be Rock.[40] Only one single was released from Powerage, "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation/Sin City". An appearance at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow during the Powerage tour was recorded and released as If You Want Blood You've Got It, featuring such songs as "Whole Lotta Rosie", "Problem Child", and "Let There Be Rock", as well as lesser-known album tracks like "Riff Raff". Powerage was the last album produced by Harry Vanda and George Young that had lead vocals by Bon Scott, and is claimed to be AC/DC's most under-rated album.[41]

text: The major breakthrough in the band's career came in their collaboration with producer "Mutt" Lange on the album Highway to Hell, released in 1979. Eddie Van Halen notes this to be his favourite AC/DC record, along with Powerage.[42] It became the first AC/DC LP to break into the US top 100, eventually reaching No. 17,[31] and it propelled AC/DC into the top ranks of hard rock acts.[7] Highway to Hell had lyrics that shifted away from flippant and comical toward more central rock themes, putting increased emphasis on backing vocals but still featured AC/DC's signature sound: loud, simple, pounding riffs and grooving backbeats.[43] The final track, "Night Prowler", has two breaths in quick succession at the start of the song, intended to create a tone of fear and loathing.[7]

text: Scott's death (1980)[edit]

text: As 1980 began, the band began work on a new album that would eventually become Back in Black, but Bon Scott would not live to see it finished. On 19 February 1980, Scott passed out in the car on the way back to friend Alistair Kinnear's house after a night of heavy drinking at the Music Machine club in London. Upon arrival at his home, Kinnear was unable to move Scott from the car into his home for the night, so he left him in the car overnight to sleep off the effects of the alcohol. Unable to wake Scott late the next morning, Kinnear rushed him to King's College Hospital in Camberwell, where Scott was pronounced dead on arrival. Pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death,[44] and the official cause was listed as "acute alcohol poisoning".[45] Scott's family buried him in Fremantle, Western Australia, the area they emigrated to when he was a boy.[46]

text: Inconsistencies in the official accounts of Scott's death have been cited in conspiracy theories, which suggest that Scott died of a heroin overdose, or was killed by exhaust fumes redirected into the car, or that Kinnear did not exist.[45] Additionally, Scott was asthmatic,[47] and the temperature was below freezing on the morning of his death.

text: Brian Johnson era (1980–2016)[edit]

text: Rebirth (1980–1983)[edit]

text: Following Scott's death the band briefly considered quitting, but encouraged by the insistence from Scott's parents that he would have wanted them to go on, they eventually decided to continue and went about finding a new frontman.[8] Various candidates were considered for his replacement, including: Buzz Shearman, ex-Moxy member, who was not able to join because of voice problems,[48] ex-Back Street Crawler vocalist Terry Slesser and then Slade vocalist, Noddy Holder.[49] The remaining AC/DC members finally decided on ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson.

text: Angus Young later recalled, "I remember the first time I had ever heard Brian's (Johnson) name was from Bon. Bon had mentioned that he had been in England once touring with a band and he had mentioned that Brian had been in a band called Geordie and Bon had said 'Brian Johnson, he was a great rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard.' And that was Bon's big idol, Little Richard. I think when he saw Brian at that time, to Bon it was 'Well he's a guy that knows what rock and roll is all about.' He mentioned that to us in Australia. I suppose when we decided to continue, Brian was the first name that Malcolm and myself came up with, so we said we should see if we can find him."[50]

text: For the audition, Johnson sang "Whole Lotta Rosie" from Let There Be Rock and Ike & Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits".[22] He was hired a few days after the audition. With Johnson the band completed the songwriting that they had begun with Scott for the album Back in Black. Recording took place at Compass Point Studios in The Bahamas a few months after Scott's death. Back in Black, produced by Mutt Lange and recorded by Tony Platt, became their biggest-selling album and a hard-rock landmark; hits include "Hells Bells", "You Shook Me All Night Long", "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" and the title track. The album reached No.1 in the UK and No.4 in the US, where it spent 131 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart.[31]

text: The follow-up album, 1981's For Those About to Rock We Salute You, also sold well and was positively received by critics. The album featured two of the band's most popular singles: "Let's Get It Up"[51] and the title track, "For Those About to Rock", which reached No.13 and No.15 in the UK, respectively. The band split with Lange for their self-produced 1983 album, Flick of the Switch, in an effort to recover the rawness and simplicity of their early albums.[52]

text: Departure of Rudd and commercial decline (1983–1987)[edit]

text:
"Back in Black" (1980)

"Back in Black"'s riff is one of the most recognised in hard rock history.[53] The song ranked No.187 on Rolling Stone 's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and reached No.37 in the US.

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text: After having problems with drugs and alcohol,[54] drummer Phil Rudd's friendship with Malcolm Young deteriorated and eventually escalated to a physical confrontation after which Rudd was fired.[22] Former Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson was drafted in to help complete the recordings, but his drum parts were eventually not used, as Rudd had already completed his drum parts.[55] Rudd was replaced by Simon Wright in the summer of 1983 after the band held over 700 auditions in the US and UK.[56] Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company fame, and Paul Thompson of Roxy Music were two of the drummers auditioned.[57]

text: Later in the year, AC/DC released the self-produced album Flick of the Switch, which was less successful than their previous albums, and was considered underdeveloped and unmemorable.[52] One critic stated that the band "had made the same album nine times".[58] AC/DC were voted the eighth-biggest disappointment of the year in the 1984 Kerrang! readers' poll. However, Flick of the Switch eventually reached No.4 on the UK charts,[22] and AC/DC had minor success with the singles "Nervous Shakedown" and "Flick of the Switch". Fly on the Wall, produced by the Young brothers in 1985, was also regarded as uninspired and directionless.[59] A music concept video of the same name featured the band at a bar, playing five of the album's ten songs.

text: In 1986, the group returned to the charts with the made-for-radio "Who Made Who". The album Who Made Who was the soundtrack to Stephen King's film Maximum Overdrive;[41] it brought together older hits, such as "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Ride On", with newer songs such as title track "Who Made Who", and two new instrumentals, "D.T." and "Chase the Ace".

text: In February 1988, AC/DC were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's Hall of Fame.[60]

text: Back to commercial success (1987–1990)[edit]

text: AC/DC's 1988 album, Blow Up Your Video, was recorded at Studio Miraval in Le Val, France, and reunited the band with their original producers, Harry Vanda and George Young. The group recorded nineteen songs, choosing ten for the final release; though the album was later criticised for containing excessive "filler",[61] it was a commercial success. Blow Up Your Video sold more copies than the previous two studio releases combined, reaching No.2 on the UK charts—AC/DC's highest position since "Back in Black" in 1980. The album featured the UK top-twenty single "Heatseeker"[51] and popular songs such as "That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll". The Blow Up Your Video World Tour began in February 1988, in Perth, Australia. That April, following live appearances across Europe, Malcolm Young announced that he was taking time off from touring, principally to begin recovery from his alcoholism. Another member of the Young family, Stevie Young, temporarily took Malcolm's place.

text: Following the tour, Wright left the group to work on the upcoming Dio album Lock Up the Wolves, and was replaced by session veteran Chris Slade. Johnson was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce,[22] so the Young brothers wrote all the songs for the next album, a practice they continued for all subsequent releases through Rock or Bust in 2014.

text: Popularity regained (1990–1994)[edit]

text: The next album, The Razors Edge, was recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser and produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously worked with Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. Released in 1990, it was a major comeback for the band, and included the hits "Thunderstruck" and "Are You Ready", which reached No.5 and No.16 respectively on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart, and "Moneytalks", which peaked at No.23 on the Billboard Hot 100.[51] The album went multi-platinum and reached the US top ten. Several shows on the Razors Edge tour were recorded for the 1992 live album, titled Live. Live was produced by Fairbairn, and is considered one of the best live albums of the 1990s.[62] AC/DC headlined the Monsters of Rock show during this tour, which was released on DVD as Live at Donington. During The Razors Edge tour three fans were killed at a concert at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah in January 1991. When the concert began fans rushed the stage crushing the three and injuring others. It took 20 minutes before venue security and the group understood the severity of the situation and stopped the concert. AC/DC settled with the victims' families out of court. As a result of this incident, the Salt Palace eliminated festival seating from future events.[63][64] A year later, AC/DC recorded "Big Gun" for the soundtrack of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Last Action Hero, and was released as a single, reaching No.1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, the band's first No.1 single on that chart.[31]

text: Popularity confirmed (1994–2008)[edit]

text:
In 1994, Angus and Malcolm invited Rudd to several jam sessions. He was eventually rehired to replace Slade, whose amicable departure arose in part because of the band's strong desire to again work with Rudd. Recorded at the Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles by the reunited 1980–83 line-up and produced by Rick Rubin, Ballbreaker was released in 1995. The first single from the album was "Hard as a Rock". Two more singles were released from the album: "Hail Caesar" and "Cover You in Oil".
In 1997, a box set named Bonfire was released. It contained four albums; a remastered version of Back in Black; Volts (a disc with alternate takes, outtakes, and stray live cuts) and two live albums, Live from the Atlantic Studios and Let There Be Rock: The Movie. Live from the Atlantic Studios was recorded on 7 December 1977 at the Atlantic Studios in New York. Let There Be Rock: The Movie was a double album recorded in 1979 at the Pavillon de Paris and was the soundtrack of a motion picture, AC/DC: Let There Be Rock. The US version of the box set included a colour booklet, a two-sided poster, a sticker, a temporary tattoo, a keychain bottle opener, and a guitar pick.[65]

text: In 2000, the band released Stiff Upper Lip, produced by brother George Young at the Warehouse Studio, again in Vancouver. The album was better received by critics than Ballbreaker but was considered lacking in new ideas.[66][67] The Australian release included a bonus disc with three promotional videos and several live performances recorded in Madrid, Spain in 1996. Stiff Upper Lip reached No.1 in five countries, including Argentina and Germany; No.2 in three countries, Spain, France and Switzerland; No.3 in Australia; No.5 in Canada and Portugal; and No.7 in Norway, the US and Hungary. The first single, "Stiff Upper Lip", remained at No.1 on the US Mainstream Rock charts for four weeks.[31] The other singles released also did very well; "Satellite Blues" and "Safe in New York City" reached No.7 and No.31 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, respectively.

text: In 2002, AC/DC signed a long-term, multi-album deal with Sony Music,[68] who went on to release a series of remastered albums as part of their AC/DC remasters series. Each release contained an expanded booklet featuring rare photographs, memorabilia, and notes.[69] In 2003, the entire back-catalogue (except Ballbreaker and Stiff Upper Lip) was remastered and re-released. Ballbreaker was eventually re-released in October 2005; Stiff Upper Lip was later re-released in April 2007. Also in 2003, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

text: On 30 July 2003, the band performed with the Rolling Stones and Rush at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto. The concert, held before an audience of half a million, was intended to help the city overcome the negative publicity stemming from the effects of a 2003 SARS epidemic. The concert holds the record for the largest paid music event in North American history.[70] The band came second in a list of Australia's highest-earning entertainers for 2005,[71] and sixth for 2006,[72] despite having neither toured since 2003 nor released an album since 2000. Verizon Wireless has gained the rights to release AC/DC's full albums and the entire Live at Donington concert to download in 2008.[73]

text: On 16 October 2007, Columbia Records released a double and triple DVD titled Plug Me In. The set consists of five and seven hours of rare footage, and even a recording of AC/DC at a high school performing "School Days", "TNT", "She's Got Balls", and "It's a Long Way to the Top". As with Family Jewels, disc one contains rare shows of the band with Bon Scott, and disc two is about the Brian Johnson era. The collector's edition contains an extra DVD with 21 more rare performances of both Scott and Johnson and more interviews.[74]

text: AC/DC made their video game debut on Rock Band 2, with "Let There Be Rock" included as a playable track.[75] The setlist from their Live at Donington live album was released as playable songs for the Rock Band series by means of a Wal-Mart-exclusive retail disc titled AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.[76]

text: No Bull: The Directors Cut, a newly edited, comprehensive Blu-ray and DVD of the band's July 1996 Plaza De Toros de las Ventas concert in Madrid, Spain, was released on 9 September 2008.[77]

text: Black Ice (2008–2011)[edit]

text:
"Rock 'n' Roll Train"

Sample of Black Ice's lead single "Rock 'n' Roll Train". The song is built on guitar riffs and elemental drum beats,[78] and features harmonic backing vocals during the chorus.[79]

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text: On 18 August 2008, Columbia Records announced 18 October Australian release, and 20 October worldwide release, of the studio album Black Ice. The 15-track album was the band's first studio release in eight years, was produced by Brendan O'Brien and was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser. Like Stiff Upper Lip, it was recorded at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. Black Ice was sold in the US exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club and the band's official website.[80]

text: "Rock 'n' Roll Train", the album's first single, was released to radio on 28 August. On 15 August, AC/DC recorded a video for a song from the new album in London with a special selection of fans getting the chance to be in the video.[81] Black Ice debuted at No.1 on album charts in 29 countries and also was Columbia Records' biggest debut album (since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard in March 1991). Black Ice has been certified Multi Platinum in eight countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic. Additionally Black Ice has achieved Platinum status in twelve countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, UK, Argentina, Singapore and New Zealand) and Gold status in four countries (The Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Brazil). The 18-month Black Ice World Tour supporting the new album was announced on 11 September and began on 28 October in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[82]

text: On 15 September 2008, AC/DC Radio debuted on Sirius Channel 19 and XM channel 53. The channel plays AC/DC music along with interviews with the band members.[83]

text: With the North American release of Black Ice on 20 October 2008, Columbia Records and Walmart created "Rock Again AC/DC Stores" to promote the album. In October 2008, MTV, Walmart, and Columbia created "AC/DC Rock Band Stores" in New York City, at Times Square, and in Los Angeles. "Black Ice" trucks were also dispatched on the streets of these two cities after the release, playing AC/DC music aloud and making various stops each day to sell merchandise.[84]

text: In late September 2009, the band rescheduled six shows when Brian Johnson underwent an operation for ulcers.[85] On 29 September, the band announced a collection of studio and live rarities, Backtracks, which was released on 10 November 2009 as a 3-CD/2-DVD/1-LP box-set.[86]

text: On 4 November AC/DC were announced as the Business Review Weekly top Australian earner (entertainment) for 2009 with earnings of $105 million. This displaced The Wiggles from the number one spot for the first time in four years.[87]

text: On 19 April 2010, AC/DC released Iron Man 2, the soundtrack for the eponymous film.[88] One month later, the band headlined Download Festival at Donington Park,[89] and closed the Black Ice World Tour in Bilbao, Spain on 28 June 2010, after 20 months in which AC/DC went to 108 cities in over 28 countries, with an estimated audience of over five million people.[90] Three concerts in December 2009 at the River Plate Stadium in Argentina were released as the DVD Live at River Plate on 10 May 2011.[91] An exclusive single from the DVD, featuring the songs "Shoot to Thrill" and "War Machine", was issued on Record Store Day.[92] In 2011, the band also issued on DVD and Blu-ray the concert movie AC/DC: Let There Be Rock, which had its theatrical release in 1980.[93]

text: Multiple lineup changes, Rock or Bust (2011–2016)[edit]

text: Angus stated in an interview in early May 2011 that the band was beginning to plan another world tour, saying, "Now we're thinking, 'How can we ever better the 'Black Ice' world tour?' But we will."[94] At the band's Live at River Plate DVD premiere on 6 May 2011 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, England, Angus said that there were plans for the group to release a new studio album "within the next couple of years", which the tour would support.[95]

text: In May 2012, Malcolm Young confirmed that the band were working on a potential follow-up to 2008's Black Ice. But he warned that fans were in for a longer wait than expected, after lead singer Brian Johnson suggested there would be new material the next year. Malcolm stated, "You know what Brian's like. He just says things and then walks away. It'll be a little while – a year or two anyway. I've been doing some jamming on some song ideas but I do that all the time, as do the rest of the band. We are still working. But we had a long rest between Stiff Upper Lip and Black Ice, so I think we need a couple of years to recuperate and work on it a bit more."[96]

text: On 19 November 2012, AC/DC released Live at River Plate,[97] their first live album in 20 years.

text: Malcolm Young's retirement[edit]

text: On 16 April 2014, in response to earlier reports that the band may be retiring due to Malcolm Young being seriously ill and unable to perform,[98] Brian Johnson commented that AC/DC are not retiring, stating "We are definitely getting together in May in Vancouver. We're going to pick up guitars, have a plonk and see if anybody has got any tunes or ideas. If anything happens we'll record it."[99] AC/DC subsequently announced in an official statement on their Facebook page that Malcolm Young would be taking a break from the band due to his ill health. It ended: "The band will continue to make music."[100] In June, Johnson announced that AC/DC are "very likely" to be on the road again before the end of 2014.[101] In July 2014, AC/DC confirmed that they have finished recording their next album and that Malcolm's nephew, Stevie Young replaced Malcolm in the studio.[102]

text: Drummer Phil Rudd released his first solo album, Head Job, on 29 August 2014. He confirmed that there would be another AC/DC tour, and stated that the band had no intention of retiring, adding, "We'll all have to be dead before it stops."[103]

text: "Rock or Bust"[edit]

text: On 23 September 2014, Alberts management confirmed that founding member Malcolm Young had officially departed from the band and revealed that their new record entitled Rock or Bust featuring eleven new tracks would be released on 28 November 2014 as the first AC/DC album in the band's history without Malcolm Young on the recordings.[1] The band also announced plans for a world tour to promote the new album with Malcolm and Angus' nephew Stevie Young as Malcolm's replacement.[104]

text: Phil Rudd's replacement[edit]

text: On 6 November 2014 Rudd was charged with attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill, possession of methamphetamine and possession of cannabis, following a police raid on his home.[105][106] The charge of attempting to procure a murder was withdrawn the following day, but the other charges remained.[107] AC/DC released a statement clarifying that the tour promoting Rock or Bust would continue, but did not say whether or not Rudd would participate, or if he was still a member of the band.[108]

text: In an interview on 13 November, Angus Young stated that the band had experienced problems with Rudd earlier in the year when recording Rock or Bust, and that his situation had taken the band by surprise. Rudd had also missed video and photo shoots, and with reference to Rudd's future in the band, Young added, "So, at this stage, it's a pretty tough call for us."[109] He also said the band would continue: "He's got to sort himself out I think ... At this point it's kind of a question mark. But if we're touring, there will be a drummer in place, put it that way."[110]

text: At the charity signing before the Grammy awards, the band was photographed together with former drummer Chris Slade. It was later confirmed that he had rejoined the band for the Grammys and upcoming tour.[111] In April 2015, Rudd pleaded guilty to drug charges and threatening to kill a former assistant.[112] Shortly thereafter, the band's web site removed Rudd as the band's drummer and replaced him with Slade.[113] On 9 July 2015 Rudd was denied a discharge without conviction and sentenced to eight months' home detention.[114]

text: Brian Johnson's hearing loss and departure[edit]

text: On 7 March 2016, the band announced that the final ten dates of the Rock or Bust World Tour would be rescheduled as Johnson's doctors had ordered him to stop touring immediately, as his hearing loss had accelerated and he risked complete deafness if he persisted on the road. The ten cancelled dates would be performed "likely with a guest vocalist" later in the year, leaving Johnson's future in touring with the group uncertain.[115] Johnson himself later stated on The Howard Stern Show that his hearing loss didn't come from having performed for 36 years with AC/DC, but rather his love of auto racing and having forgotten to put ear plugs in during one race left him with a ruptured ear drum in his left ear.[116]

text: However, on 15 March 2016, American comedian Jim Breuer (a friend of Johnson) revealed on his podcast that Johnson had received a second opinion on his hearing and it was not as bad as initially thought. Nonetheless, Breuer mentioned that Johnson told him that he was essentially fired from AC/DC and that he hadn't heard from the band since the announcement of the tour being postponed, adding that Angus Young wants to continue the band for at least another ten years and do at least one more studio album and world tour.[117] Breuer later clarified his comments on Facebook that did not end speculation on Johnson's future with the band.[118]

text: On 19 April 2016, Johnson made an official statement regarding his health problems and inability to tour. In the statement, he acknowledged his ongoing hearing difficulties but stated his intentions to continue recording and potentially resume touring if his health improves sufficiently. He also specifically thanked Angus Young and Cliff Williams for their support during his AC/DC tenure.[119]

text: Axl Rose joins[edit]

text: On 16 April 2016, AC/DC released a statement announcing the addition of Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose as the band's lead vocalist for the remainder of their 2016 tour dates. The statement reads: "AC/DC band members would like to thank Brian Johnson for his contributions and dedication to the band throughout the years. We wish him all the best with his hearing issues and future ventures. As much as we want this tour to end as it started, we understand, respect and support Brian's decision to stop touring and save his hearing. We are dedicated to fulfilling the remainder of our touring commitments to everyone that has supported us over the years, and are fortunate that Axl Rose has kindly offered his support to help us fulfill this commitment. AC/DC will resume their Rock or Bust World Tour with Axl Rose joining on vocals."[120][121]

text: Departure of Cliff Williams[edit]

text: On 8 July 2016, Cliff Williams indicated he was retiring from the band in an interview with Gulfshore Life, saying "It's been what I’ve known for the past 40 years, but after this tour I’m backing off of touring and recording. Losing Malcolm, the thing with Phil and now with Brian, it’s a changed animal. I feel in my gut it’s the right thing."[122] At the end of the Rock or Bust Tour he released a video statement confirming his retirement.[123]

text: Following the band's final show with Williams on 21 September 2016 in Philadelphia, PA it was announced that Axl Rose would be joining the band full-time and that he and Angus would continue AC/DC with different musicians.[124][125]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2003.[126] During the ceremony the band performed "Highway to Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long", with guest vocals provided by host Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. He described the band's power chords as "the thunder from down under that gives you the second most powerful surge that can flow through your body."[127] During the acceptance speech, Brian Johnson quoted their 1977 song "Let There Be Rock".[128]

text: On 22 March 2000, the municipality of Leganés (near Madrid) named a street in honour of the band as "Calle de AC/DC" ("AC/DC Street"). Malcolm and Angus attended the inauguration with many fans. Later that day, the plaque with the name of the group was stolen, perhaps by an enthusiast or collector. The plaque was replaced two hours later, and stolen once again a mere three days after the fact. The plaque had since been stolen numerous times, forcing the municipality of Leganés to begin selling replicas of the official street plaque.

text: In May 2003, the Young brothers accepted a Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Service to Australian Music at the 2003 Music Winners Awards, during which Malcolm paid special tribute to Bon Scott, who was also a recipient of the award.[129]

text: On 1 October 2004, a central Melbourne thoroughfare, Corporation Lane, was renamed ACDC Lane in honour of the band. The City of Melbourne forbade the use of the slash character in street names, so the four letters were combined.[130] The lane is near Swanston Street where, on the back of a truck, the band recorded their video for the 1975 hit "It's a Long Way to the Top".[32]

text: They sold over 1.3 million CDs in the US during 2007 despite not having released a new album since 2000 at that point. Additionally, the group's commercial success continues to flourish despite their choice to refrain from selling albums in digital online formats for many years.[131] However, in November 2012, the entire catalogue (excluding the TNT album and the Australian versions of the High Voltage, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and Let There Be Rock albums) became available on the iTunes Store.[132]

text: In 2009 the Recording Industry Association of America upgraded the group's US sales figures from 69 million to 71 million, making AC/DC the fifth-best-selling band in US history and the tenth-best-selling artist, selling more albums than Madonna and Mariah Carey.[10] The RIAA also certified Back in Black as double Diamond (20 million) in US sales, and by 2007 the album had sold 22 million copies, which made it the fifth-best-selling album of all-time in the US.[13] It is currently the second-best-selling album worldwide.

text: Band members[edit]

text: Current members[edit]

text:
Angus Young – lead guitar, occasional backing vocals (1973–present)
Stevie Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1988, 2014–present)
Chris Slade – drums (1989–1994, 2015–present)
Axl Rose – lead vocals (2016–present)[125][133]

text: Former members[edit]

text:
Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1973–2014)
Dave Evans – lead vocals (1973–1974)
Bon Scott – lead vocals (1974–1980)
Phil Rudd – drums (1975–1983, 1994–2015)
Mark Evans – bass guitar (1975–1977)
Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals (1977–2016)
Brian Johnson – lead and backing vocals (1980–2016)
Simon Wright – drums (1983–1989)

text: Note: Before their debut album, High Voltage (1975), AC/DC had several line up changes. For a more comprehensive list of members that were part of the band before 1975, see List of AC/DC band members.

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Discography[edit]

text: Studio albums[edit]

text:
High Voltage (1975) (Australia only)
T.N.T. (1975) (Australia only)
High Voltage (1976) (International version)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (1976)
Let There Be Rock (1977)
Powerage (1978)
Highway to Hell (1979)
Back in Black (1980)
For Those About to Rock We Salute You (1981)
Flick of the Switch (1983)
Fly on the Wall (1985)
Blow Up Your Video (1988)
The Razors Edge (1990)
Ballbreaker (1995)
Stiff Upper Lip (2000)
Black Ice (2008)
Rock or Bust (2014)

text: Tours[edit]

text:
Date
Tour

1973–75
Australian Clubs Tour

1975
High Voltage Australian Clubs Tour

1975–76
TNT/Lock Up Your Daughters Summer Vacation Tour

1976
Lock Up Your Daughters

1976–77
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/A Giant Dose of Rock and Roll

1977
Let There Be Rock Tour

1978
Powerage Tour

1978–79
If You Want Blood Tour

1979–80
Highway to Hell Tour

1980–81
Back in Black Tour

1981–82
For Those About to Rock Tour

1983–84
Flick of the Switch Tour/Monsters of Rock Tour

1985–86
Fly on the Wall Tour

1986
Who Made Who Tour

1988
Blow Up Your Video World Tour

1990–91
The Razors Edge World Tour

1996
Ballbreaker World Tour

2000–01
Stiff Upper Lip World Tour

2003
Club Dates/Rolling Stones Tour

2008–10
Black Ice World Tour

2015–16
Rock or Bust World Tour


document_title: Winnie the Pooh (Disney character)

question_text: when did winnie the pooh become part of disney

root

text: Winnie the Pooh (Disney character)

text: Adaptation and development by Disney[edit]

text: In 1961, Walt Disney Productions licensed certain film and other rights to the characters, stories and trademarks from Stephen Slesinger, Inc. and the estate of A. A. Milne. and made a series of cartoon films about him.  The early cartoons were based on several of the original stories and the distinctive images made popular by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. during the 1930s through 1960s. Alongside the cartoon versions, which Disney adapted from Slesinger, Slesinger's simplified lines and pastel color adaptations of Shepard's classical drawings are now marketed under the description "Classic Pooh".

tag: p

text: In 1977, Disney released the animated feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, introducing a new character named Gopher  (which Gopher acknowledges by proclaiming, "I'm not in the book, you know").  The film comprises three segments originally released as separate featurettes: Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974). The 1977 release featured new bridging material and a new ending, as it had been Walt Disney's original intention to make a feature.[citation needed]  A fourth featurette, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, was released in 1983. Since Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983), Jim Cummings started providing the new voice for Pooh.

text: The live-action series Welcome to Pooh Corner ran on the Disney Channel from 1983 to 1986. In 1988, Disney launched the animated series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which aired from 1988 to 1991 with a total of 83 episodes. Pooh appeared with Tigger in the anti-drug TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

text: In 2000, Disney released the feature film The Tigger Movie in which the character of Tigger played the leading role. Due to its success, two more feature-length Pooh movies based on other characters were released to theaters: Piglet's Big Movie in 2003 and Pooh's Heffalump Movie in 2005. Pooh also made appearances in episodes of the animated series House of Mouse, however  Pooh doesn't have any lines and is mostly seen in the background.

text: Playhouse Disney, along with Shadow Projects, produced a puppet TV series for preschoolers, called The Book of Pooh, coordination production of ages kids with family aired, which aired from 2001 to 2003. Playhouse Disney produced another series for preschoolers, called My Friends Tigger & Pooh, which aired from 2007 to 2010. Pooh also makes a cameo appearance in the DreamWorks animated film, Bee Movie along with Piglet, at one point, a man spies Pooh and Piglet eating honey and Barry tells him to "take him out" with a tranquilizer dart.

text: Winnie the Pooh was released in 2011, and 2014 The Disney Channel Series: Tales of Friendship with Winnie the Pooh was announced in Playhouse Disney for preschoolers kids produced TV series My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh which coordination aired from American released this 2014. In April 2015, Deadline reported that Disney would develop a live action Winnie the Pooh movie with Brigham Taylor producing and Alex Ross Perry writing. The film focuses both on Pooh and the adult Christopher Robin returning to the Hundred Acre Woods and his reunion with Pooh and friends.[1] Christopher Robin was released on August 3, 2018 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the United States.

text: Ownership controversy and changes[edit]

text: During his lifetime, Milne was liberal with his grant of rights. At times he licensed the same exclusive rights to more than one entity.

text: In the United States, E. P. Dutton and Company acquired exclusive volume publication rights and Stephen Slesinger, Inc., acquired sole and exclusive rights to virtually all uses outside of the Dutton books as well as rights to any sorts of future uses. Beginning in 1930 Stephen Slesinger created all of the distinctive and colorful images of Pooh outside of the books. Under license from Slesinger, Pooh made his debuts in radio, film, animation, children's theatre, advertising and a host of consumer products and services protected by trademark. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Milne retained most of his literary copyright rights which he left to four beneficiaries of his trust:  The Garrick Club, Westminster School, The Royal Literary Fund and the A. A. Milne Family. By direction of Milne's will, the Pooh Properties Trust was formed. Mrs. Milne, trustee of the Milne Estate and Spencer Curtis Brown, Trustee, licensed certain exclusive film rights to Disney in 1961. Christopher Robin Milne sold his rights to the other copyright holders, in order to raise money to support his daughter, before his death in 1996.

text: Sometime around 2000, the Pooh Properties Trust licensed additional rights to Disney and accepted a buyout  of their claims to royalties as defined in a 1991 lawsuit brought by Stephen Slesinger, Inc. Although Slesinger's rights are arguably more valuable, the combined value paid by Disney to The Pooh Properties Trust is said to be approximately $300 million for Milne's portion of those rights.

text: To further minimize Disney's legal exposure to Slesinger, Disney paid money to the Pooh Properties attorneys and trusts to use the name of Clare Milne, daughter of Christopher Robin, in an attempt to terminate certain of the copyright rights of Stephen Slesinger Inc, in the wake of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The district court found in favor of Stephen Slesinger, Inc., as did the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[2] On Monday, June 26, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus sustaining the Appeals Court ruling.[3]

text: In December 2005, Disney announced that Pooh's friend and owner Christopher Robin would transform into a six-year-old "tomboyish" red-haired girl Darby for the Disney Channel animated television series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh. Christopher Robin appeared intermittently in the series.

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: In 2002, TV Guide compiled a list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time as part of the magazine's 50th anniversary. Winnie the Pooh was given the honor of number 27.

text: On April 11, 2006, Pooh was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, being the fourth Disney character to receive one after Mickey Mouse, Snow White and Donald Duck. The star is located on 6834 Hollywood Blvd.

text: Disney Parks[edit]

text: Pooh is a common character in the Disney Parks and the most common in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. He is also usually seen with Tigger and Eeyore, and occasionally Piglet. Pooh is also the most requested character in Disney Parks second only to Mickey Mouse himself.

text: Pooh has his own spell card known as "Winnie the Pooh's Honey Bees" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Pooh also has his own show in Disneyland Paris known as Winnie the Pooh and Friends, too! In the same park, Pooh takes part in Disney Magic on Parade, on his own float.

text: In the 2015 rendition of World of Color, Pooh made a cameo appearance during the opening sequence, in honor of Walt Disney.

text: Popular culture[edit]

text: In March of 2017, a picture of a muscular Winnie the Pooh with the quote "Sorry sir. This is a Christian server, so no swearing." was posted on Reddit and gained a minor amount of popularity on the Internet. Youtubers such as Wetzelmation made references to this Internet meme on their videos. This muscular Winnie the Pooh has been an unofficial mascot for various Christian forums and gaming servers.[citation needed]

text: Filmography[edit]

text: Theatrical episodes[edit]

text:
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons (1981) - Hal Smith
Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983) - Hal Smith

tag: table

text: Feature-length films[edit]

text:
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) - Sterling Holloway
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) - Sterling Holloway
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997) DVD - Jim Cummings
A Valentine for You (1999) DVD - Jim Cummings
Seasons of Giving (1999) DVD - Jim Cummings
The Tigger Movie (2000) - Jim Cummings
The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart (2001) DVD - Jim Cummings
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001) DVD - Jim Cummings
Mickey's House of Villains (2002) DVD - Jim Cummings
A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) DVD - Jim Cummings
Piglet's Big Movie (2003) - Jim Cummings
Springtime with Roo (2004) DVD - Jim Cummings
Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) - Jim Cummings
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005) DVD - Jim Cummings
Bee Movie (2007) - Cameo only - Jim Cummings
Super Sleuth Christmas Movie (2007) DVD - Jim Cummings
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009) DVD - Jim Cummings
Super Duper Super Sleuths (2010) DVD - Jim Cummings
Winnie the Pooh (2011) - Jim Cummings
Christopher Robin (2018) - Jim Cummings

tag: ul

text: Television series[edit]

text:
Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983–1986) - Hal Smith
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991) - Jim Cummings
House of Mouse (2001-2003) - Jim Cummings
The Book of Pooh (2001–2003) - Jim Cummings
My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007–2010) - Jim Cummings
Doc McStuffins (2017) (guest appearance) - Jim Cummings


document_title: OK

question_text: where does the phrase okie dokie come from

text: OK

text: Proposed etymologies[edit]

text: Numerous explanations for the origin of the expression have been suggested, but few have been discussed seriously by linguists. The following proposals have found mainstream recognition.

text: Boston abbreviation fad[edit]

text: The etymology that most reference works provide today is based on a survey of the word's early history in print: a series of six articles by Allen Walker Read,[4] in the journal American Speech in 1963 and 1964.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] He tracked the spread and evolution of the word in American newspapers and other written documents, and later throughout the rest of the world. He also documented controversy surrounding OK and the history of its folk etymologies, both of which are intertwined with the history of the word itself. Read argues that, at the time of the expression's first appearance in print, a broader fad existed in the United States of "comical misspellings" and of forming and employing acronyms, themselves based on colloquial speech patterns:

text: The abbreviation fad began in Boston in the summer of 1838 … OFM, "our first men," and used expressions like NG, "no go," GT, "gone to Texas," and SP, "small potatoes." Many of the abbreviated expressions were exaggerated misspellings, a stock in trade of the humorists of the day. One predecessor of OK was OW, "oll wright."[12]

text: The general fad is speculated to have existed in spoken or informal written U.S. English for a decade or more before its appearance in newspapers. OK's original presentation as "all correct" was later varied with spellings such as "Oll Korrect" or even "Ole Kurreck".

text: The term appears to have achieved national prominence in 1840, when supporters of the Democratic political party claimed during the 1840 United States presidential election that it stood for "Old Kinderhook", a nickname for the Democratic president and candidate for reelection, Martin Van Buren, a native of Kinderhook, New York. "Vote for OK" was snappier than using his Dutch name.[13] In response, Whig opponents attributed OK, in the sense of "Oll Korrect," to Andrew Jackson's bad spelling. The country-wide publicity surrounding the election appears to have been a critical event in OK's history, widely and suddenly popularizing it across the United States.

text: Read proposed an etymology of "OK" in "Old Kinderhook" in 1941.[14] The evidence presented in that article was somewhat sparse, and the connection to "Oll Korrect" not fully elucidated. Various challenges to the etymology were presented; e.g., Heflin's 1962 article.[15] However, Read's landmark 1963–1964 papers silenced most of the skepticism. Read's etymology gained immediate acceptance, and is now offered without reservation in most dictionaries.[16] Read himself was nevertheless open to evaluating alternative explanations:

text: Some believe that the Boston newspaper's reference to OK may not be the earliest. Some are attracted to the claim that it is of American-Indian origin. There is an Indian word, okeh, used as an affirmative reply to a question. Mr Read treated such doubting calmly. “Nothing is absolute,” he once wrote, “nothing is forever.”[17]

text: Choctaw[edit]

text: The folk singer Pete Seeger sang that "OK" was of Choctaw Indian origin,[18][19] as the dictionaries of the time tended to agree. Three major American reference works (Webster's, New Century, Funk & Wagnalls) cited the Choctaw etymology as the probable origin until as late as 1961.[18]

text: The earliest written evidence for the Choctaw word "okeh" is provided in work by the missionaries Cyrus Byington and Alfred Wright in 1825. These missionaries ended many sentences in their translation of the Bible with the particle "okeh", meaning "it is so". "Okeh" was given as an alternative spelling of "okay" in the 1913 Webster's.[20]

text: Byington's Dictionary of the Choctaw Language confirms the ubiquity of the "okeh" particle,[21] and his Grammar of the Choctaw Language notes the particle -keh is an "affirmative contradistinctive", with the "distinctive" o- prefix.[22]

text: Subsequent Choctaw spelling books de-emphasized the spellings lists in favor of straight prose, and they made use of the particle[,] but they too never included it in the word lists or discussed it directly. The presumption was that the use of particle "oke" or "hoke" was so common and self-evident as to preclude any need for explanation or discussion for either its Choctaw or non-Choctaw readership.[18]

text: The Choctaw language was one of the languages spoken at this time in the South-Eastern United States by a tribe with significant contact with African slaves.[23] The major language of trade in this area, Mobilian Jargon, was based on Choctaw-Chickasaw, two Muskogean-family languages. This language was used, in particular, for communication with the slave-owning[24][25] Cherokee (an Iroquoian-family language).[26][27] For the three decades prior to the Boston abbreviation fad, the Choctaw had been in extensive negotiation with the US government,[28] after having fought alongside them at the Battle of New Orleans.

text: Arguments for a more Southern origin for the word note the tendency of English to adopt loan words in language contact situations, as well as the ubiquity of the "okeh" particle. Similar particles exist in native language groups distinct from Iroquoian (Algonquian, Cree cf. "ekosi") and its usefulness in conversation (a verbal equivalent to nodding one's head) as the main reasons for its rapid spread among English speakers.

text: West African[edit]

text: A verifiable early written attestation of the particle 'kay' is from transcription by Smyth (1784) of a North Carolina slave not wanting to be flogged by a European visiting America:

text: Kay, massa, you just leave me, me sit here, great fish jump up into da canoe, here he be, massa, fine fish, massa; me den very grad; den me sit very still, until another great fish jump into de canoe;...

text: A West African (Mande and/or Bantu) etymology has been argued in scholarly sources, tracing the word back to the Wolof and Bantu word waw-kay or the Mande (aka "Mandinke" or "Mandingo") phrase o ke.

text: David Dalby first made the claim that the particle "OK" could have African origins in the 1969 Hans Wolff Memorial Lecture. His argument was reprinted in various newspaper articles between 1969 and 1971.[30] This suggestion has also been mentioned more recently by Joseph Holloway, who argued in the 1993 book The African Heritage of American English (co-written with a retired missionary) that various West African languages have near-homophone discourse markers with meanings such as "yes indeed" or which serve as part of the back-channeling repertoire.[3][31] Though Frederic Cassidy challenged Dalby's claims, asserting that there is no documentary evidence that any of these African-language words had any causal link with its use in the American press,[citation needed] one can certainly wonder at the fact that this standard of written proof does not account for the illiteracy in which the West African speakers were kept during the period of slavery in question.

text: The West African hypothesis had not been accepted by 1981 by any etymologists,[30][32][33] but nevertheless has since appeared in scholarly sources published by linguists and non-linguists alike.[34]

text: Alternative etymologies[edit]

text: A large number of origins have been proposed. Some of them are thought to fall into the category of folk etymology and are proposed based merely on apparent similarity between OK and one or another phrase in a foreign language with a similar meaning and sound. Some examples are:

text:
A corruption from the speech of the large number of descendants of Scottish and Ulster Scots (Scots-Irish) immigrants to North America, of the common Scots phrase och aye ("oh yes").[35]
A borrowing of the Greek phrase όλα καλά (óla kalá), meaning "all good".[36]

text: Early history[edit]

text: Allen Walker Read identifies the earliest known use of O.K. in print as 1839, in the edition of 23 March of the Boston Morning Post (an American newspaper). The announcement of a trip by the Anti-Bell-Ringing Society (a "frolicsome group" according to Read) received attention from the Boston papers. Charles Gordon Greene wrote about the event using the line that is widely regarded as the first instance of this strain of OK, complete with gloss:

text: The above is from the Providence Journal, the editor of which is a little too quick on the trigger, on this occasion. We said not a word about our deputation passing "through the city" of Providence.—We said our brethren were going to New York in the Richmond, and they did go, as per Post of Thursday. The "Chairman of the Committee on Charity Lecture Bells," is one of the deputation, and perhaps if he should return to Boston, via Providence, he of the Journal, and his train-band, would have his "contribution box," et ceteras, o.k.—all correct—and cause the corks to fly, like sparks, upward.

text: Read gives a number of subsequent appearances in print. Seven instances were accompanied with glosses that were variations on "all correct" such as "oll korrect" or "ole kurreck", but five appeared with no accompanying explanation, suggesting that the word was expected to be well known to readers and possibly in common colloquial use at the time.

text: Various claims of earlier usage have been made. For example, it was claimed that the phrase appeared in a 1790 court record from Sumner County, Tennessee, discovered in 1859 by a Tennessee historian named Albigence Waldo Putnam, in which Andrew Jackson apparently said "proved a bill of sale from Hugh McGary to Gasper Mansker, for an uncalled good, which was O.K.".[37] However, Read challenged such claims, and his assertions have been generally accepted. The great lawyer who successfully argued many Indian rights claims, however, supports the Jacksonian popularization of the term based on its Choctaw origin.[38]

text: David Dalby (see above) brought up some other earlier attested usages. One example from 1941 is the apparent notation "we arrived ok" in the hand-written diary of William Richardson going from Boston to New Orleans in 1815, about a month after the Battle of New Orleans.[39] Frederic Cassidy asserts that he personally tracked down this diary and notes that:

text: After many attempts to track down this diary, Read and I at last discovered that it is owned by the grandson of the original writer, Professor L. Richardson, Jr., of the Department of Classical Studies at Duke University. Through his courtesy we were able to examine this manuscript carefully, to make greatly enlarged photographs of it, and to become convinced (as is Richardson) that, whatever the marks in the manuscript are, they are not OK.

text: Similarly, H. L. Mencken, who originally considered it "very clear that 'o. k.' is actually in the manuscript",[40] later recanted his endorsement of the expression, asserting that it was used no earlier than 1839. Mencken (following Read) described the diary entry as a misreading of the author's self-correction, and stated it was in reality the first two letters of the words a h[andsome] before noticing the phrase had been used in the previous line and changing his mind.[41]

text: Another example given by Dalby is a Jamaican planter's diary of 1816, which records a black slave saying "Oh ki, massa, doctor no need be fright, we no want to hurt him".[42] Cassidy asserts that this is a misreading of the source, which actually begins "Oh, ki, massa ...", where ki is a phrase by itself:

text: In all other examples of this interjection that I have found, it is simply ki (once spelled kie). As here, it expresses surprise, amusement, satisfaction, mild expostulation, and the like. It has nothing like the meaning of the adjective OK, which in the earliest recorded examples means 'all right, good,' though it later acquires other meanings, but even when used as an interjection does not express surprise, expostulation, or anything similar.

text: Variations[edit]

text: Whether this word is printed as OK, Ok, ok, okay, or O.K. is a matter normally resolved in the style manual for the publication involved. Dictionaries and style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style and The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage provide no consensus.[43]

text:
Variation
Where used/Origins

okeh
Choctaw word for 'it is so' (see above). An alternative English spelling, no longer common,[44] although it remained in sporadic use well into the 20th century.[45][46][47] Also see Okeh Records.

hokay
Used in English as an alternative.

kay or 'kay
Notably used in Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny as a filler word by the maniacal Captain Queeg.[citation needed]

k or kk or oka
Commonly used in instant messaging, or in SMS messages. Before the days of SMS, "K" was used as a Morse code prosign for "Go Ahead".

Okie dokie
This slang term was popularized in the film "The Little Rascals" (Oki doki). The phrase can be extended further, e.g. "Okie dokie (aka) pokie / smokie / artichokie / karaoke / lokie," etc.[48][49]

ôkê
Used in Vietnam; okey also used, but ok more commonly.[50]

okei
Used in Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish and Estonian (together with OK or ok)

okey
Used in Catalan, Faroese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish, sounding similar to the English pronunciation OK.

okej
Used in Swedish, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Polish, Macedonian and sometimes Latvian; ok also used, but less common.[51]

oké
Used in Dutch and Hungarian. In Dutch, oke, ok and okay are also used, but are less common in the formal written language.[52]

ookoo
Used in Finland. Pronounced the same way as "OK"; the spelling arises from the pronunciation of the individual letters in Finnish.[53]

oquei and ocá
Nowadays, rarely used in Portuguese, but once a fad in Brazil. Pronounced as the English OK or following the names of the letters in Portuguese (oh-kah). In written Portuguese, still very much used as OK.

oukej
Used in Czech and Slovak. Pronounced as the English OK. When written OK, it is pronounced [o:ka:]. Neither version recognized as official.

owkej
Used in Maltese. Pronounced as the English "OK".

oukei
Used in colloquial Afrikaans. Pronounced also as "OK".

O.K
Used in Greek. The abbreviation is pronounced as the English OK.

A-OK
A more technical-sounding variation popularized by NASA in 1961.[54]

M'kay
Slang term popularized by South Park TV show. Pronounced also as "Mmmm K". This variation has connotations of sarcasm, such as condescending disagreement.

Okily Dokily!
Catchphrase used by Ned Flanders in The Simpsons.

text: Usage[edit]

text: This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: In 1961, NASA popularized the variant "A-OK" during the launch of Alan Shepard's Mercury mission.[55]

text: International usage[edit]

text: In Brazil, Mexico and Peru, as well as in other Latin American countries, the word is pronounced just as it is in English and is used very frequently. Spanish speakers often spell the word "okey" to conform with the spelling rules of the language. In Brazil, it may be also pronounced as "ô-kei". In Portugal, it is used with its Portuguese pronunciation and sounds something like "ókâi" (similar to the English pronunciation but with the "ó" sounding like the "o" in "lost" or "top"), or even as ‘oh-kapa’, from the letters O (‘ó’) and K (‘capa’).

text: In Flanders and the Netherlands, "OK" has become part of the everyday Dutch language. It is pronounced the same way.

text: Arabic speakers also use the word (أوكي) widely, particularly in areas of former British presence like Egypt, Jordan, Israel/Palestine and Iraq, but also all over the Arab world due to the prevalence of American cinema and television. It is pronounced just as it is in English but is very rarely seen in Arabic newspapers and formal media.

text: In Hebrew, the word OK is common as an equivalent to the Hebrew word בסדר [b'seder] ('adequate', 'in order'). It is written as it sounds in English אוקיי.

text: It is used in Japan and Korea in a somewhat restricted sense, fairly equivalent to "all right". OK is often used in colloquial Japanese as a replacement for 大丈夫 (daijōbu "all right")　or いい (ii "good") and often followed by です (desu – the copula). A transliteration of the English word, written as オーケー (lit. "ōkē") or オッケー (lit. "okkē") is also often used in the same manner as the English, and is becoming more popular in recent years. In Korean, 오케이 (literally "okay") can be used colloquially in place of 네 (ne, "yes") when expressing approval or acknowledgment.

text: In Chinese, the term 好; hǎo (literally: "good"), can be modified to fit most of usages of OK. For example, 好了; hǎo le closely resembles the interjection usage of OK. The "了" indicates a change of state, in this case it indicates the achievement of consensus. Likewise, "OK" is commonly transformed into "OK了" (OK le) when communicating with foreigners or with fellow Cantonese speaking people in at least Hong Kong and possibly to an extent, other regions of China.[56] Other usages of OK such as "I am OK" can be translated as 我还好; wǒ hái hǎo. In Hong Kong, movies or dramas set in modern times use the term "ok" as part of the sprinkling of English included in otherwise Cantonese dialog. In Mandarin Chinese, it is also, somewhat humorously, used in the "spelling" of the word for karaoke, "卡拉OK", pronounced "kah-lah-oh-kei" (Mandarin does not natively have a syllable with the pronunciation "kei"). On the computer, OK is usually translated as "确定," which means "confirm" or "confirmed".

text: In Taiwan, "OK" is frequently used in various sentences, popular among but not limited to younger generations. This includes the aforementioned "OK了" (Okay le), "OK嗎" (Okay ma), meaning "Is it okay?" or "OK啦" (Okay la), a strong, persuading affirmative, as well as the somewhat tongue-in-cheek explicit yes/no construction "O不OK？" (O bù OK?), "Is it OK or not?"

text: In Russia, "OK" is used very frequently for any positive meaning. The word in Russian has many morphologies: "окей", "океюшки", "ок", "окейно", etc.

text: In France and Belgium, "OK" is used to communicate agreement, and is generally followed by a French phrase (e.g. OK, d'accord, "ok, chef") or another borrowing (e.g., OK, boss. ok, bye.). Rarely pronounced /ɔk/ these days, except by young children encountering dialog boxes for the first times.

text: In the Philippines "okay lang" is a common expression, literally meaning "just okay" or "just fine". Sometimes spelled as okey.

text: In Malay, it is frequently used with the emphatic suffix "lah": OK-lah.

text: In Vietnamese, it is spelled "Ô kê".

text: In India, it is often used after a sentence to mean "did you get it?", often not regarded politely, for example, "I want this job done, OK?" or at the end of a conversation (mostly on the phone) followed by "bye" as in "OK, bye."

text: In Indonesia, "OK" is also used as a slogan of national television station RCTI since the year 1994.

text: In Pakistan, "OK" has become a part of Urdu and Punjabi languages.

text: In Germany, "OK" is spelled as "o.k." or "O.K." or "okay". It may be pronounced as in English, but /ɔˈkeː/ or /oˈkeː/ are also common.[57] The meaning ranges from acknowledgement to describing something neither good nor bad, same as in US/UK usage.

text: In Maldivian Okay is used in different ways, often used to agree with something, more often used while departing from a gathering "Okay Dahnee/Kendee."

text: In Singapore, "OK" is often used with suffix-es used in "Singlish" such as OK lor, OK lah, OK meh, OK leh... etc. which are used in different occasions.

text: Gesture[edit]

text: In the United States and much of Europe a related gesture is made by touching the index finger with the thumb (forming a rough circle) and raising of the remaining fingers.[58] It is not known whether the gesture is derived from the expression, or if the gesture appeared first. The gesture was popularized in America in 1836 as a symbol to support then Presidential candidate Martin Van Buren. This was because Van Buren's nickname, Old Kinderhook, derived from his hometown of Kinderhook, NY, had the initials O K.[58] Similar gestures have different meanings in other cultures, some offensive.[59][60]

text: Computers[edit]

text: OK is used to label buttons in modal dialog boxes such as error messages or print dialogs, indicating that the user must press the button to accept the contents of the dialog box and continue. When a modal dialog box contains only one button, it is almost always labeled "OK" by convention and default, usually rendered to the screen in upper case without punctuation: OK, rather than O.K., Okay, or Ok. The OK button can probably be traced to user interface research done for the Apple Lisa.[61] The inspiration was likely the -ok parameter in Unix.[62]

text: The Forth programming language prints ok when ready to accept input from the keyboard. This prompt is used on Sun, Apple, and other computers with the Forth-based Open Firmware (OpenBoot). The appearance of ok in inappropriate contexts is the subject of some humor.[63]

text: In HTTP, the HyperText Transfer Protocol, upon which the World Wide Web is based, a successful response from the server is defined as OK (with the numerical code 200 as specified in RFC 2616). The Session Initiation Protocol also defines a response, 200 OK, which conveys success for most requests (RFC 3261).

text: Some Linux distributions, including those based on Red Hat, display boot progress on successive lines on-screen, which include [ OK ].

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ South China Morning Post: "OK, 'most spoken word on the planet', marks its 175th anniversary"
Jump up ^ Beaver, David (20 February 2011). "Not OK". languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b Yngve, Victor. "On getting a word in edgewise," page 568. Papers from the Sixth Regional Meeting [of the] Chicago Linguistic Society, 1970.
Jump up ^ Bailey, Richard W. Allen Walker Read, American Scholar in Milestones in the History of English in America (PDF). American Dialect Society 86, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2002.
Jump up ^ American Heritage Dictionary (good summary of the results of Read's six articles)
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1963). "The first stage in the history of "O.K"". American Speech. 38 (1): 5–27. doi:10.2307/453580. JSTOR 453580.
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1963). "The second stage in the history of "O.K"". American Speech. 38 (2): 83–102. doi:10.2307/453285. JSTOR 453285.
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1963). "Could Andrew Jackson spell?". American Speech. 38 (3): 188–195. doi:10.2307/454098. JSTOR 454098.
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1964). "The folklore of "O.K"". American Speech. 39 (1): 5–25. doi:10.2307/453922. JSTOR 453922.
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1964). "Later stages in the history of "O.K"". American Speech. 39 (2): 83–101. doi:10.2307/453111. JSTOR 453111.
Jump up ^ Read, Allen W (1964). ""Successive revisions in the explanation of "O.K". American Speech. 39 (4): 243–267. doi:10.2307/454321. JSTOR 454321.
Jump up ^ Adams 1985.
Jump up ^ The Economist 2002.
Jump up ^ Read 1941.
Jump up ^ Heflin 1962.
Jump up ^ Online edition of American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language [Houghton Mifflin] Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ "Allen Read". The Economist. 24 October 2002. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b c Fay 2007.
Jump up ^ YouTube.
Jump up ^ "okeh". (n.d.) Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. (1913). Retrieved 29 December 2014.
Jump up ^ Byington 1915.
Jump up ^ Byington, Cryus (1870). Grammar of the Choctaw Language. McCalla & Stavely. p. 14.
Jump up ^ Flickinger, Robert Elliot (1911). The Choctaw Freedmen and The Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy. gutenberg.org.
Jump up ^ Tiya Miles, Ties that Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom, University of California Press, 2005, pp. 170-173
Jump up ^ "SLAVERY", Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society, Retrieved 29 December 2014
Jump up ^ Badger 1971.
Jump up ^ Hopkins.
Jump up ^ DeRosier Jr, Arthur (1967). "Andrew Jackson and Negotiations for The Removal of the Choctaw Indians". The Historian. 29 (3): 343–362.
Jump up ^ Smyth 1784, pp. 1:118-21.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Cassidy 1981.
Jump up ^ Holloway & Vass 1993.
Jump up ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary".
Jump up ^ Lighter, Jonathon, (1994). The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, 708.
Jump up ^ LINGUIST List 4.705. 14 September 1993.
Jump up ^ Read 1964.
Jump up ^ Weber 1942.
Jump up ^ George W. Stimpson. (1934) "Nuggets Of Knowledge"
Jump up ^ Felix S. Cohen, "Americanizing the White Man," The American Scholar vol. 21, no. 2 (Spring 1952): 177-191
Jump up ^ Heflin 1941, p. 90.
Jump up ^ Wait 1941.
Jump up ^ Mencken 1945, p. 275.
Jump up ^ David Dalby (Reader in West African Languages, SOAS, U of London). (1971) "The Etymology of O.K.," The Times, 14 January 1971
Jump up ^ "I'm OK, you're okay". Grammarphobia. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
Jump up ^ "Okeh as variant spelling of "okay"". Thefreedictionary.com. 28 June 1928. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
Jump up ^ Pearson, Drew. "Wallace Letter to Truman Led to White House Okeh of Speech". St. Petersburg Times, 18 September 1946, p. 6. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
Jump up ^ Jennewein, Paul. "Okay is Okeh: Along the Cape Fear". Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.), 10 June 1977, p. 1-D. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
Jump up ^ Halbrooks, Hap. "Arthur Davis' Hand Reported Okeh". Florence Times, 19 May 1955, p. 12. Retrieved on 27 July 2015.
Jump up ^ Word Wizard: Okie Dokie smokie
Jump up ^ "Okie Dokie Artichokie" (book)
Jump up ^ Luong, Ngoc MD. Personal interview by Nu Alpha Pi. 2010 April 13.
Jump up ^ (in Swedish) Aftonbladet.se
Jump up ^ (in Dutch) Taaladvies.net
Jump up ^ Mäkinen, Panu. "Alphabet". Phonology. Panu Mäkinen. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
Jump up ^ Wolfe, Tom (1988). The Right Stuff (17th print ed.). Toronto: Bantam Books. p. 227. ISBN 9780553275568. Retrieved June 28, 2015 – via Google Books.
Jump up ^ "Calm Voice from Space". Time. Time Inc. March 2, 1962. Retrieved April 3, 2011. (Subscription required (help)).
Jump up ^ 3 min 37 s video, Youtube.com
Jump up ^ http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/o__k_#block-duden-tiles-4
^ Jump up to: a b Armstrong, Nancy & Melissa Wagner. (2003) Field Guide to Gestures: How to Identify and Interpret Virtually Every Gesture Known to Man. Philadelphia: Quirk Books.
Jump up ^ Dangerous Body Language Abroad, by Matthew Link. Posted 26 July 2010 01:00 PM. Retrieved on 17 November 2012
Jump up ^ Body Language. Obscene, to be used with extreme moderation! Retrieved on 17 November 2012
Jump up ^ "Apple user interface designers pick ''OK''". Folklore.org. 17 July 1980. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
Jump up ^ search for "-ok command ;"
Jump up ^ "USENIX - LISA 99 - The C Days of Y2K". USENIX. 23 November 1999. Retrieved 21 February 2011.

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