Kareoke, Karyoke, Karryoke, Karaeoke . . .
How To Spell KA-RA-O-KE 

Posted January 11, 2009      
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Trouble spelling “Karaoke”? Tired of the belittling Google message “Did you mean ‘karaoke?” whenever you search? We feel your pain. First take comfort in knowing that even me, the creator and editor of this site was a little spotty on the spelling in the beginning. Lets just own up to the fact that few of us Americans are born or even raised to know the spelling of the Japanese word meaning “empty orchestra.” If you are reading this however, the path to eternal vocabulary enlightenment is before you, and in just a few more seconds you will be forever endowed . . . oh forget the grandiose preamble, here is how you can always remember to spell that pesky word.

The word consists of 2 parts:

1.      The first part is a beautiful girl’s name; “Kara.”

2.      The second is simply phonetic; “Oke”.

More context for individuals with a finance / business background.

“Kara” is the stock symbol for Karaolis Group Public Ltd., on the Cyprus stock exchange. It is a real estate development concern based in Limassol, Cyprus. “Oke” is the stock symbol for, ONEOK, a $13 billion  natural gas distributor listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

More Context for Everyone Else

“Kara” is the first name of longtime celebrity and soon to be mega-celebrity, Kara DioGuardi; an accomplished singer, songwriter, producer, and most anticipated American idol 4^th celebrity judge. Wow, Kara’s name is inside the word that is the foundation of the American Idol phenomenon and inspiration for this very site . . .the parallels makes one spine tingle.

“Oke” is the last name of celebrity CNN weather / news anchor,

There you have it. The right way to spell “Karaoke”. Go spread the word.






          Femi Oke: Photo courtesy CNN.com