Nasalized variant ofokay. Perhaps popularized byMr. Mackey's catchphrase inSouth Park; earlier, apparently chiefly in linguistic transcriptions of speech.
m'kay
- (informal)Okay;an expression of acknowledgment or affirmation, now sometimes used in an ironic or condescending sense.
- spellingmkay
- 1991, Barbara A. Fox, “Cognitive and Interactional Aspects of Correction in Tutoring,” inTeaching Knowledge and Intelligent Tutoring, Peter Goodyear ed.[1]:
- In these tutoring sessions we have found that, when the tutor agrees with the student’s displayed understanding, her signal of confirmation comes quickly after the student’s turn, as in:
S.Mkay.
hh. And I know it’s negative, just to follow your thought process, because I know that the sine is positive.
T. Mhm
- 1993, Herbert H Clark,Arenas of Language Use[2]
- [...] the director would go on only when both were satisfied the matcher had understood, as here:
D. The long view of the quad uh walkway
M. those
M. ┌ numbers right?
D. └ is number 5
M.Mkay
D. Yeah with the numbers on the bottom.
- 1995, Charles Conrad and Lucinda Sinclair-James, “Institutional Pressures, Cultural Constraints, and Communication in Community Mediation Organizations,” inConflict and Organizations, Anne Maydan Nicotera ed.
- M1:Mkay. Let me point us back to. This is related to um what we were talking about and how you’re going to um sort of report what happened here tonight.
- 2004, Gordon Atkinson,RealLivePreacher.com[3]:
- My bold, Crocodile Hunter “Absolutely” withered into “mkay” with the end of the word lilted up like a desperate question.
- 2004, Deanna Kizis,How to Meet Cute Boys[4]:
- That has nothing to do with star-power crap and everything to do with keeping it real,mkay?
- spellingmmkay
- 1997: Christina S. Beck,Partnership for Health(dead link):
- C: I want you to re:st (.) re:st (.) as much as you can do (.) is just re:st (.) hhh when >you go< home (.) >you tell< your husband you make dinner honey (.) hhh you take care of me (.) . . . I need >to set< down (.) I need >to rest< (.)
P:mmkay (.)
C: and >get down< (.) watch your sodium (.) the salt=
- 2004, Abbe Diaz,PX This(dead link):
- well i used to have some skilled sticky fingers of my own back in the day so i know a shoplifted dress when i see onemmkay.
- 2005, Catherine Delaney,The Rosameorns(dead link):
- I looked back to him...mmkay brown hair dark eyes...high cheek bones that lucky monkey I wonder if he has some native American.
- 2005, Jenny Colgan,Boy I Loved Before(dead link)
- She was sitting perched on her desk, in that nonchalant, ‘mmkay?’ way teachers do when they’re trying to pretend they’re down with the kids.
- spellingmmmkay
- 1999, “It's Easy,MMMKay.” [title, in soundtrack]South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
- 2004, Victoria Schmitz,If It’s Not One Thing It’s the Other[5]:
- Let’s get all this straight. He took me to a place he hates to see if I like it.Mmmkay.
- 2004, Stephanie Lehmann,Are You in the Mood[6]
- He told her she could sleep in if she liked. “Mmmkay,” she said without opening her eyes, and he kissed her good-bye.
- spellingm’kay
- 1999, Tom Bradley,Black Class Cur[7]:
- “I’ll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anybody, not even the missus,m’kay?”
“M’kay.”
- 2003, Bill Hunt and Todd Doogan,The Digital Bits: Insider’s Guide to DVD[8]:
- But do keep in mind that this film [viz.South Park] is not for the faint of heart, and it ain’t for kids,m’kay?
- spellingmm-kay
- 2000, Tom Bradley,Hustling the East[9]:
- She didn’t ask what that was supposed to mean, but tallied a while on her fingertips and obliged him.
“Mm-kay, bye.”
- 2005, Bill Eisele,Scrub Match[10]
- “All I’m saying,” the Asian man said, “is it’s about time she got a whiff of her own breath.Mm-kay?”
- spellingmmm-kay
2005, Michael Collins,Hot Lights, Cold Steel[11]:“Well, I’m going to take a picture of your arm and then this nice doctor is going to fix it for you, okay?”
“Mmm-kay.”
- Spellings with initialh, suggesting reanalysis ashmm +'kay, are common on the Internet, though print citations are yet lacking.
