'All right' & 'Alright'

[AnytaSunday]

'All right' & 'Alright'

In the past, I've been told my use of 'alright' in the stories I write is incorrect. Critiquers of my work have pointed out that the correct way to use this word (meaning satisfactory, adequate) is to write it as two words: all right.

 

“We word nerds have known since second grade that alright is not all right” Bill Walsh (Lapsing into a comma) [1]

Alright is grammatically considered a misspelling of all right.

But is it as simple as this? Maybe not.

 

Language evolves over time, and alright is slowly gaining some acceptance in British English.

 

In American English there is a bit of condradiction over the two words. And here I'll quote from Grammar Girl:

 

 

the American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style seems to contradict itself. It states that “alright” as one word “has never been accepted as standard” but it then goes on to explain that “all right” as two words and “alright” as one word have two distinct meanings. It gives the example of the sentence “The figures are all right.” When you use “all right” as two words, the sentence means “the figures are all accurate.” When you write “The figures are alright,” with “alright” as one word, this source explains that the sentence means “the figures are satisfactory.” I’m not sure what to make of this contradiction. The many other grammar sources I checked, including a large dictionary, reject “alright” as one word. Regular listeners of this show know that language is always in flux, so perhaps “alright” as one word is gaining a small footing.

 

 

What are your thoughts? And do you use 'alright' or 'all right'? If you use 'alright' would you change that to be currently grammatically correct? If not, why not?

 

 

[1]--I found this quote over Grammar Girl

[Jon T Lappin]

Language definitely does evolve and I hate grammar prudes that think everything should be as it was 300 years ago! LMAO. For me, I would use them both but in different instances. If I had someone speaking and agreeing, I'd use alright, such as "Alright, I'll go to the store." If I wanted to signify that everything was okay, I'd use all right., such as "that kid's all right". The one I really struggle with is no one and noone. It's to the point that I've completely stopped using noone, but now I feel like the grammar nazis have won!

[Tipdin]

What a cool quandary. I never knew that noone was EVER alright or all right. And alright in my world has ALWAYS been a misspelling. I'm going to have to do some research. I'm on my way to a writing workshop so this should be interesting. (I hope I don't cause a meltdown! (Or melt-down, or melt down...).

[Kavrik]

I'm so confuzzled now. I think I'll go and sleep this off and figure it all out when I wake up.

 

[JamesSavik]

Wooderson from Dazed & Confused: "All right, all right, all right!"

[Sara Alva]

Kavrik, that picture is freaking adorable.

 

I've always known alright was incorrect, yet strangely I still used it in a lot of my earlier (fan)fics, mainly because I saw others around me doing it, too. Usually I'm a stickler for correct spellings, so I'm not sure what was so alluring about "alright" . . . although I believe it was something along the lines of what Anyta quoted from Grammar Girl (the difference in meaning). Also, I found it interesting that Word does not flag alright with the jagged red misspelling line, but rather with the green grammar error line. During a grammar check it shows up as a "nonstandard word choice."

 

Oh, hey, and the spell check here doesn't flag it at all.

 

In any case, I've since switched back to all right, because Anyta said to

[Tipdin]

Ok, you people...

 

This caused a near-riot at the writing seminar. Alright is not all right, except to those who claim it is...

 

Most people agreed, that alright is NOT all right in formal writing. In casual, conversational writing, it is given a pass, but considered a slang-esque word.

 

I asked the tutors in the writing lab at the college, and to a person, they said no; alright is not acceptable. They were going by my college's standards though, so THAT just proves they're brown-nosers... (Which, of course, I had to tell them.)

[Marzipan]

So, if I wanted to use alright in a dialog between characters that don't use grammatically correct language it would be fine?

 

Oh well, more to dwell on when writing...

[Marzipan]

I'm so confuzzled now. I think I'll go and sleep this off and figure it all out when I wake up.

 

 

(This kitty is almost as cute as my Mörkö was when he was a baby. My other cat Toivo was not so pretty kitten. please forgive me, lol, could not resist...)

[AnytaSunday]

All right then!

 

Wow, thanks for the responses! Tidpin, how great that you took this to your writing workshop! Maybe in ten or fifteen years things will change and alright may be all right.

 

All rightie then, back to some work!

[colinian]

I took short story writing courses in community college and at UC Berkeley, and all of the instructors said that alright and all right are interchangeable.

 

Here's what the dictionary says:

The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but remains in common use especially in journalistic and business publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used occas. in other writing <the first two years of medical school were alright ― Gertrude Stein>.

 

© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Diana Hacker in A Pocket Style Manual (2009 MLA Update) says "All right is correct. Alright is nonstandard." Note she says it's nonstandard, not to be avoided (i.e. incorrect)

 

I took an English Linguistics course. The instructor kept reminding us that English is an ever-evolving and changing language, and what's not acceptable today might be acceptable tomorrow or next week or next year -- and vice versa.

 

So it's up to you to use whichever source you think is alright.

So it's up to you to use whichever source you think is all right.

 

Colin

[Jon T Lappin]

All right then!

 

 

LOL, see, in this instance, all right looks odd to me. I wonder if it's more of a regional thing. Like, here in the midwest, in some instances, all right becomes one word when we speak it and think it. It becomes one entity, instead of two separate words that each has its own meaning. I wonder if that makes any sense. Let me drink another cup of coffee and reread that. LOL

 

 

 

[Tipdin]

LOL, see, in this instance, all right looks odd to me. I wonder if it's more of a regional thing. Like, here in the midwest, in some instances, all right becomes one word when we speak it and think it. It becomes one entity, instead of two separate words that each has its own meaning. I wonder if that makes any sense. Let me drink another cup of coffee and reread that. LOL

 

A regional thing AND age thing...?

 

I'm in the midwest too, and people of my, (ehemm) ...era will tend to use 'all right.' However, I see loads of young people using 'alright.' Are we seeing the evolution of the English language?

[Dark]

I've never known the difference, so I've just tried to never use it. :wacko:

 

It's interesting the contradiction, though, and I'll probably go forth with that definition:

 

alright = okay/satisfactory

all right = all accurate

 

Then again, if the word means something else, then why not just write "okay" or "satisfactory" instead?

[Agaith]

I've never known the difference, so I've just tried to never use it. :wacko:

 

It's interesting the contradiction, though, and I'll probably go forth with that definition:

 

alright = okay/satisfactory

all right = all accurate

 

Then again, if the word means something else, then why not just write "okay" or "satisfactory" instead?

 

 

Hmmm, I've always gone by those uses of the two types of spellings as well.

But, if it's wrong looks I'll go back and change my spellings in my story