User:Blaxthos/Okay

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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This page in a nutshell: "Okay" does not mean "I agree".

Summary

Okay in contemporary usage does not carry significant commitment or specify implicit agreement; it only indicates confirmation that a communication has been received, and does not speak to message content. Although okay generally indicates no intent to oppose, it does not indicate an endorsement of the position.

Implied agreement

While participating in article improvement, consensus building, and dispute resolution, a dialogue where discourse can reach a point where some action may be taken. Editor A may inform Editor B (or the community writ large) of the action and reason for that action.

Example

Editor A: "Based on foo, I am going to make change bar."
Editor B: "Okay."

Okay, in this context, is being used as an acknowledgment of receipt of message. "Okay" should not be interpreted to constitute agreement with logic foo, or change bar.

Implied credibility

Okay also should not be used as an indication of implied credibility of facts underlying foo.

Example 2

Editor A: "Since 98% of reliable sources agree that mammoths had 500 teeth (foo), I'm going to put it in the article."
Editor B: "Okay."

Okay, in this context, may indicate agreement with the change proposed contingent upon the accuracy of foo. However, it does not mean that Editor B is validating statement foo, and does not indicate that Editor B has any knowledge of the number of teeth . It simply means "yea, that sounds like a reasonable thing to do [assuming 98% of reliable sources agree that mammoths had 500 teeth]."