My friends say it, your friends say it. You’ve probably said it too.
“Kk.”
Being a complete grammar geek, this peculiar acronym annoys me to no end. After I read a text from my boyfriend saying “Kk” last night, I had enough. It was time for a serious, serious talk. But that’s a different story.
I began researching as much as I could about this “Kk” that gets around everywhere, creeping into phones, emails and online communities across the globe, hypnotizing its readers to spread it so it can conquer the precious, well thought out English language, with its growing number of similar lazy buddies who want nothing more than to get around.
But where did “Kk” come from? I can’t pinpoint an exact mastermind or location, but I’ve done some digging.
The double K means the message has been acknowledged. I know that and I’m sure you do too. But why not just write “Ok” in the first place? You’d still be using two letters. Originally, it didn’t just mean “Ok.” “Kk” came from, “k, kewl,” translating to “Ok, cool.” I’ve never heard anyone say “Kk” in person, except when reading a text message out loud. Even then, it sounds beyond stupid. It is stupid. It’s an acronym for two words that are misspelled and conjoined. It makes my head sick. It makes me lose hope for the human being.
Conversations like the following wouldn’t be said like this in person.
“hi how ru i just ate a corn dog”
“lool kk im good cant complain hbu”
Read that aloud. What a catastrophe.
Through research, I discovered that “Kk” was born in the 1990s. Not surprising, with the Internet really growing up back then. It’s part of online/texting conversation culture and was first used in online communities, not texting, as many would now assume.
The younger generations especially use “Kk” without knowing what it means. They think it means “Ok” and they use it that way, when it really stands for “k kewl” (Okay, cool). So, if you think about it, a conversation like the one below would be messed up.
“i cant make it tonight i gotta go to my grandpas wake”
“kk im sry”
These things happen. This also reminds me how many things are so impersonal now. I love technology, but sometimes I feel that the younger people in this world aren’t going to know how to properly communicate, especially face to face. The ways of the future interest me.
So, those are some of my thoughts and facts on the subject.
Okay, cool.
Nicole DiGiose 
LOL!! OMG!! I cnt stnd wn ppl abbrv8 crtn thngs 2. It’s so annoyn nd u jst spk my mnd. I h8 wn ppl say kk. Sersly hw hrd is it 2 typ OK? So annoyn!!
Hahahahahahahaaa!
Cldnt hlp myslf. Soz.
That made me laugh, Tizzle.
Also, it’s interesting how reading that was not a problem at all for me.
I hate hate hate hate when people text or use grammar like that. I totally understand how you feel!
Thank you for reading, heartandskull.
I feel like grammar is going to be butchered more and more as the world turns. I don’t think grammar geeks like us can do much about it, but I will never embrace it!
Oh, funny. I don’t like it either, btw.
Lol.
I never say that. I feel so…not me. I’m tempted to delete that comment. I feel wrong.
Hahahahaha!! Go easy on yourself Nicole.
I promise I’ve never used ‘kk’ in a text. It’s funny/sad when people use it, and accidentally hit the ‘k’ button one more time, though…
Yeah, that’s bad!
Thanks for checking out my blog.
I have to disagree. While the original KK might have been “K, Kewl”, in the 90’s it quickly changed meanings to a simple affirmation.
Back in the day, when cellular phones were new, you had to click on a key multiple times in order to get a single letter. For K, you had to do something like a 5-5-0 to get a single K! That by itself was a lot of keys, but then smarter phones came out, and they would predict what letter you wanted [K] if you just pressed 5. Oh my!
That had an unintended consequence of making it super duper easy to accidentally text “K”, it is in the middle of the keyboard and all! Meaning that people were affirming plans or other things they did not want to. Oh No!
It would have been easy for people to then do a 6 and a 5 to type in “Ok”, but hitting 5 multiple times was already a habit due to the old 5-5-0 combinations to do a single K. Thus KK, not meaning “K, Kewl”, but just an affirmation was born. Oh Kay!
I remember those days, so, yes, I can understand that. Hitting a button multiple times to get to a certain letter was a bit annoying. It’s crazy how quickly technology has changed. Thank you for your input and for reading, Sam.
Thank you! I despise kk and everyone’s lack of proper spelling and grammar these days! Ahhhhh! Why is it “kewl” to lack intelligence?
I’m not sure, but it still bothers me to this day. Thanks for reading! 🙂