Reddit reviews Why Do We Say? The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use
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WordsGrammarEnglishExpressions
Fiasco is the Italian word for flask. Glass blowing is a delicate art form and if a glassblower was attempting to make a bottle (or whatever) and made a mistake, it would become a common drinking flask, or fiasco.
OK comes from the Civil War when the field commanders would be tallying up the deaths from the day. For instance they would mark 3K for 3 killed or 0K for zero people killed, which made it an OK day.
Source: this book, which is full of these sorts of things: http://www.amazon.com/Why-Do-We-Say-Expressions/dp/1555210104
Edit: people are saying OK is wrong and linking me to a wikipedia page where the main page doesn't list the explanation from the book. It's located in one of the alternative possible etymologies linked from the main page.