Kindle

As e-readers became mainstream, the Kindle from Amazon quickly became the frontrunner.  Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store.

A single device was launched in 2007, but Kindle now comprises a range of devices, including e-readers with E Ink electronic paper displays and Kindle applications on all major computing platforms.

The name "Kindle" comes from the idea of "kindling" a fire, in this case an intellectual fire of new ideas that could spread to readers all over the world. Amazon originally used the codename "Fiona" for this e-reader.

The product's success led to the Kindle Fire, a tablet computer developed by Amazon and first released in November 2011. That first version featured a color 7-inch multi-touch display running a custom version of Google's Android operating system called Fire OS.

Currently, the product is called simply Fire. and it incorporates Amazon's Alexa voice assistant system.

Fortune magazine reported that, "As with most of Amazon’s devices, the aim isn’t to make money off of the hardware but instead to sell digital content such as books, movies, and TV shows to users."

An Okay Story

OKay

I came across a book, OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word, that got me thinking about this common word that doesn't get much thought. Is okay (AKA OK or O.K.) America's greatest word?  Yes, according to author Allan Metcalf, English professor and executive secretary of the American Dialect Society.

OK is such a common colloquial English way of denoting approval, assent, or acknowledgment, that I also posted this on my One Page Schoolhouse website.

"Okay" has spread as a loanword to other languages.

It has shades of meanings and is used as several parts of speech: As an adjective, "It's okay to sit here" means "acceptable" but "Their food is just okay" means "mediocre" rather than being "good."

People use it as an adverb ("She sings okay.")

"Okay, I'll leave now" makes it an interjection meaning compliance and "Okay, I like that option" indicates "agreement."

You can use it was a verb, as in "The office okayed my travel expenses."

These two letters (I'm not a fan of the "O.K." version because I don't see it as an abbreviation.) are very versatile.

The OK or ring gesture is a common hand sign. It even has an online Unicode symbol (U+1F44C) and is a commonly used emoticon online 👌 . Connecting the thumb and index finger into a circle, and holding the other fingers straight or relaxed away from the palm indicates something is okay.

Divers use the sign to say that you are okay or to ask another person if they are okay.

Take note that in other contexts or cultures, this same gesture has different meanings or connotations that are not simply linguistic, including ones that are negative, offensive, financial, numerical, devotional. For example, in France the "OK" gesture bears both positive and negative connotations, and in parts of the Arab world, this sign represents the evil eye and is used as a curse.

The origin is not definitive. One version is that at a Chicago bakery named O. Kendall and Sons they stamped Army biscuits with the company initials OK, or maybe it was a Boston baker named Otto Kimmel who did that on his vanilla cookies. But why attach the meanings to it beyond it being a kind of logo?

I also found that it might be d from the Choctaw word "okeh" -which means "it is true." That sounds more sensical, though I found no path for its entry into English.

There is an origin that attaches "OK" to the Boston Morning Post back in 1839 where as an editor's joke it was used as an abbreviation for a misspelled version of the phrase "all correct." Huh? That makes no sense to me.

I prefer a New Jersey diary entry of William Richardson in 1815. He is writing about a journey from from Boston to New Orleans and writes: "Arrived at Princeton (NJ), a handsome little village, 15 miles from N Brunswick, ok at Trenton, where we dined at 1 P.M."  We assume he meant that he is giving his Trenton meal an "all right" review. But it is unlikely that Richardson invented the ok term as a personal short form, so where did he get it from and why did it spread?

We also sometimes use "A-OK" to mean a stronger form of okay. The term seem to have originated with the space program.

There is also "okie-dokie," a slang term that also means okay that was popularized in the Our Gang (The Little Rascals) films.

OK had usefulness as a short form in 19th century telegraph messages with their abbreviations that resemble our own Tweets. And if OK isn't enough of a shortening of okay, you will also see the single "K" in text messages.

NHL Team Names Part 4

In this fourth and final installment, we conclude our look at hockey team names.

Colorado fans were given eight names to choose from and Avalanche was the most popular. An avalanche is a frighteningly powerful act of nature that occurs in Colorado's mountains and their logo features a Rocky mountain-like "A" and an avalanche on a puck whips around the "A."

The Dallas Stars of Texas, honors the "Lone Star state." However, when the team was in Minnesota, their fans had chosen the Minnesota state motto "Etoile du Nord" (Star of the North).

The Detroit Red Wings name was the choice of then team president James Norris. He picked it because he had played on the Montreal Winged Wheelers and their wheel logo was a good fit for Detroit which is also known as the Motor City for its automotive production.

Edmonton Oilers - The management held a contest and chose Oilers, reflecting the importance of the oil industry in the area. They kept the name when it moved from the World Hockey Association (WHA) to the National Hockey League.

Florida Panthers - H. Wayne Huizenaga wanted to draw attention to the Panther, an endangered native wildcat of Florida.

         

Hartford Whalers - When originally in the WHA, club was named New England Whalers for two reasons: (1) New England, particularly Massachusetts, seaport towns are connected to whaling; (2) the name had WHA in it (WHAlers). Name later changed to Hartford Whalers. The original logo featured a whaling harpoon and the newer version features a stylized "H" with a whale's fluke.

         

Los Angeles Kings - Original owner, the late Jack Kent Cooke, named the team himself. The original colors were purple and gold with a logo of royal crown. The team colors became black, silver and white the same year Wayne Gretzky joined the team (1988-89). The current version features the letters "LA" and a silver crown.

Montreal Canadiens - Representing the nationality of the players on the team. Originally, the team had only French Canadian players.

And team #31 in the NHL will be in Seattle.

The nhlseattle.com team name and identity have not been decided as of this writing. Fans have been asked to help select the team name by sharing ideas using the hashtag #NHLSeattle or #ReturnToHockey.