It’s OK OK types

<Note: This is also rehydration of an older post (March 2010) — but the expression lives on in Indian English to this day, next to classics like ‘revert back’. So if you encounter the phrase — here’s your guide to what it actually means :)>

It’s a lazy Saturday (please excuse the tautology) and I was perusing titles on Flipkart (I’m a huge fan, btw) and some random clicking led to me a review which was entitled “It’s OK OK types” — and I think this phrase might have squarely entered the living language that is “Indlish”, as one of its more popular idiomatic expressions. I realize though that the Indian branch of Roget’s (Witco??) may not quite yet have latched on to this one, and so I decided to render a public service and bridge the gap. So here goes:

OK OK types (phr. Modern Indlish, acc. bland expression or disparaging hand gesture)

1. an axiomatic bland response to a banal question intended to divulge no specific information and frustrate the questioner

Usage: Q: “How’s work?” A: “It’s OK OK types”

Note: Frequently employed in this connotation by disgruntled employees in the IT sector

2. automatic response in conditions of either complete apathy or seething envy

Usage: Q: “Isn’t Robert Pattinson the cutest? The guy is so hot, so handsome ….(blah, blah, blah)….What do you think”?
A: “He was OK OK types”

Note: Often employed in this context by confused boyfriends.

3. mild dismissal

Usage: Q: How was the latest Akshay Kumar movie?” A: It was OK OK types

4. in a display of oneupmanship

Usage: Q: Did you hear that Mrs. Khanna gifted her new son-in-law a new Honda City?
Q: Yes, but that was OK OK types only when compared to Mrs. Sharma who gifted a Toyota Camry

I’m too lazy to think of any more — so additions are welcome