Search from various English teachers...
Spain flagMaría Pilar
Everything is hunky-dory Is the expression "Everything is hunky-dory" used frequently by English speakers? I heard it last week, but my English teacher doesn't know its meaning, she has never heard it. Can you help me?

Corrections · 1

1

Everything is hunky-dory

Is the expression "Everything is hunky-dory" used frequently by English speakers? I heard it last week, but my English teacher doesn't know its meaning, she has never heard it. Can you help me?

It means 'everything is fine because you got home safe', just like the expression 'okey-dokey'. 

Here is some more information from English.stackexchange.com

The least exotic theory of all, but almost certainly the true clue, traces "hunky-dory" to the archaic American slang word "hunk," meaning "safe," from the Dutch word "honk," meaning "goal," or "home" in a game. To achieve "hunk" or "hunky" in a child's game was to make it "home" and win the game.

The question of where the "dory" came from brings us back to our old friend "O.K." Children very often do not just say "O.K." -- they say "okey-dokey," thus engaging in what linguists call "reduplication," or the emphatic, joking repetition of parts of a word. "Hunky- dory" is almost certainly a similar product of reduplication by children who had won their game.

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/11717/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-hunky-dory


Want to progress faster?

Join this learning community and try out free exercises!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!

Start Learning Today