# Alright - All right ?



## Whodunit

Hi,

Once an American friend told me that it's uneducated and uncommon, if you see someone using "alright". But I've already seen lots of websites, lyrics, and texts where this word was used. I'd like to have some opinions by native speakers, if they use either "all right" or "alright".

But let me add that there's of course no difference in pronunciation, and that I want you to tell me if you ever used it in an informal letter. It's obvious that one wouldn't use this slang word in a formal letter, but is it okay to write it between friends?


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## timpeac

I have always been taught to use "alright". I've never thought about it before, but it would not have surprised me to find "all right" corrected to "alright" by a teacher when I was at school. Like "always" not "all ways" "someone" not "some one" etc.


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## la grive solitaire

Hmm... interesting, timpeac. I do think of "alright" as being BE yet both spellings are used here. I  favor "all right" although I couldn't tell you why. Here's a Random House column about the debate over alright/all right (from 1999 but I don't think it's changed much since then  ) 

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990604


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## timpeac

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Hmm... interesting, timpeac. I do think of "alright" as being BE yet both spellings are used here. I favor "all right" although I couldn't tell you why. Here's a Random House column about the debate over alright/all right (from 1999 but I don't think it's changed much since then  )
> 
> http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990604


 
Haha, did you see the "since the former (eg all right) is never questioned..." - an American website perchance? 

Honestly, I had never thought about this before Who's question, and although (or should that be all though? ) you can never tell, I _think_ if a foreign speaker had asked me this this morning I would have said "all right" was, well, all wrong!

I love this forum, you never stop learning even about your own language.
Edit - I just asked my partner sitting across the room from me, out of the blue, "how do you spell alright" (obviously you can't tell from how I say it whether I mean this or "all right"). I got a surprised look followed by "a-l-r-i-g-h-t".

I asked if you could spell it "all" "right" as two words and got a puzzled look as if I must be mad, and the response "no".


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## daviesri

All right is the most accepted and correct spelling.
Alright is an alternate spelling which is used often but disputed as to whether it is correct or not.

In order to be right all of the time, especially in formal writing, it is best to use "all right".


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## timpeac

daviesri said:
			
		

> All right is the most accepted and correct spelling.
> Alright is an alternate spelling which is used often but disputed as to whether it is correct or not.
> 
> In order to be right all of the time, especially in formal writing, it is best to use "all right".


 
What evidence do you base your comments on Daviesri? I'm not saying you're wrong - necessarily - but we can all write absolute statements like this, but it's not all that helpful when there is some controversy over something (some thing? sorry I'll stop)


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## daviesri

My origianl response was based on my College English teacher that absolutely despised the usage of alright.  She was very adamant about 'all right' being the only correct spelling.

I also looked it up both in *Websters New World College Dictionary*.
All right is given the proper definitions.
Alright states : _var sp. of_ ALL RIGHT: a disputed usage.


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## jacinta

The same goes for the American Heritage Dictionary:

Usage note for *all right*:  "'Despite the appearance of the form *alright* in works of such well-known writers as Langston Hughes and James Joyce, the single word spelling has never been accepted as standard.  This is peculiar, since similar fusions such as already and altogether have never raised any objections."

It goes on to explain that it has only been in the last century that alright has been accepted as correct.  I'd say a century is a long time and long enough to say that it's A-Okay!  They both appear in the dictionary.


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## la grive solitaire

daviesri said:
			
		

> My origianl response was based on my College English teacher that absolutely despised the usage of alright.  She was very adamant about 'all right' being the only correct spelling.
> I also looked it up both in *Websters New World College Dictionary*.
> All right is given the proper definitions.
> Alright states : _var sp. of_ ALL RIGHT: a disputed usage.


This is from the Random House link:
"Usage writers and copy editors (and schoolteachers) tend to really, really hate alright. Some of the comments one can collect from them are "horrendous," "ignorant," "illiterate," "over my dead body," "lazy," and the like. This hostility has not changed much in recent years, despite the ever-increasing frequency of the form." http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/ind...l?date=19990604

Although I prefer "all right", too, I was surprised to find that people feel so strongly about it and wonder why...


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## te gato

I personally like 'all right' better..and I was taught to use that form..and when doing any legal documents here you have to use that form..the other form is not alright..

but...I do catch myself mucking it up at times and writing allright.. 

tg


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## gaer

timpeac said:
			
		

> I have always been taught to use "alright". I've never thought about it before, but it would not have surprised me to find "all right" corrected to "alright" by a teacher when I was at school. Like "always" not "all ways" "someone" not "some one" etc.


http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Alright+&x=16&y=9

There's a bit of history. If it correct—and I see no reason to doubt it—then again I think the only sane answer is that both are correct. 

Gaer


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## gaer

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> This is from the Random House link:
> "Usage writers and copy editors (and schoolteachers) tend to really, really hate alright. Some of the comments one can collect from them are "horrendous," "ignorant," "illiterate," "over my dead body," "lazy," and the like. This hostility has not changed much in recent years, despite the ever-increasing frequency of the form." http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/ind...l?date=19990604
> 
> Although I prefer "all right", too, I was surprised to find that people feel so strongly about it and wonder why...


I personally prefer "all right". But I will say for the record, because I've really had it up to my neck with bossy, narrowminded, "only one way is right language dictators", that anyone who can hold such a strong opinion about a variant spelling that is quite common has very little common sense. 

Gaer


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## Whodunit

Okay, thank you guys. That's all. I'll use "all right", but I just wanted to know if the slang form has already more influence. I see, not.


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## timpeac

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Okay, thank you guys. That's all. I'll use "all right", but I just wanted to know if the slang form has already more influence. I see, not.


 
It's not a slang form!! No one will raise an eyebrow if you use it in the UK.

Edit - well to be fair, that's my opinion, and that of my partner. However looking back on this thread I am the only Brit to have participated, even the sources quoted have been US.

Are there no other Brits out there reading this? What do you think? Have I misunderstood the standing of this word all this time??


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## ScotsLoon

Timpeac,

A fellow Brit here to back you up, I would say it's more common to see alright than all right and would expect the same response from 99% of the people I asked to spell alright as you got.  I'd have to say that there appears to be an AE/BE divide on this issue.


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## te gato

timpeac said:
			
		

> It's not a slang form!! No one will raise an eyebrow if you use it in the UK.
> 
> Edit - well to be fair, that's my opinion, and that of my partner. However looking back on this thread I am the only Brit to have participated, even the sources quoted have been US.
> 
> Are there no other Brits out there reading this? What do you think? Have I misunderstood the standing of this word all this time??


ha ha ha....
First of all..I concur..It is not slang...just a different form..of the same word...

Don't worry timpeac..it is 'all right/alright' to use either form of 'all right/alright' when you want to say 'all right/alright'..they mean the same thing....

do you understand now..is it 'all right/alright'..or should I explain further?  

and for the sake of an argument...I'm not a Brit..but I pretended to be..just to answer your question..(_did you hear my accent? was it all right/alright?)_

tg


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## Benjy

i would always write alright. but meh.. i can't speel fo toffee.


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## jacinta

Alright is a word I've always looked at twice and I usually end up changing it to all right.  Very strange.  In the end, I agree with everyone who says "Alright is all right!"


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## la grive solitaire

gaer said:
			
		

> I've really had it up to my neck with bossy, narrowminded, "only one way is right language dictators"  Gaer


  Aka "prescriptive grammarians". Fortunately, there are "descriptive grammarians", too... all is not lost.  

"Descriptive grammarians ask the question, 'What is English (or another language) like--what are its forms and how do they function in various situations?' By contrast, prescriptive grammarians ask 'What should English be like--what forms should people use and what functions should they serve?'" http://www.lsadc.org/fields/index.php?aaa=prescriptivism.htm


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## timpeac

te gato said:
			
		

> and for the sake of an argument...I'm not a Brit..but I pretended to be..just to answer your question..(_did you hear my accent? was it all right/alright?)_
> 
> tg



Sorry no your accent wasn't quite there te gato or you would have written awrigh' - we don't pronounce the l and many people would pronounce the t at the end as a glottal stop!

Scotsloon you may be a Scot but you're not a loon, I think you're right there is a BE-AE divide since all the BE speakers that have now participated say they prefer alright. As I said earlier I didn't even know people wrote all right!! I've probably seen it but just not "noticed".


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## timpeac

la grive solitaire said:
			
		

> Aka "prescriptive grammarians". Fortunately, there are "descriptive grammarians", too... all is not lost.
> 
> http://www.lsadc.org/fields/index.php?aaa=prescriptivism.htm



Yes, thank goodness for that!! Being a descriptive grammarian is the only offence in France that is still punishable by the guillotine! (I jest but only slightly - treason gets the guillotine too)


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## te gato

timpeac said:
			
		

> Sorry no your accent wasn't quite there te gato or you would have written awrigh' - we don't pronounce the l and many people would pronounce the t at the end as a glottal stop!
> .


Aggggg..Oh 'all right/alright' !!!!..I will just have to keep practicing to get it 'all right/alright'..then you will have to let me know..all right/alright???

tg


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## Whodunit

Well, may I sum up this discussing like the following? The American educated people like the word "all right" and actualy not "alright". But it may be way okay for Brits to see the word "alright" as one word with only one single l. If I got you all right, my assumption will be correct, that there're Brits who like "all right", and Americans who know "alright", but that's not regular like that.

I'm wondering what our Autralian foreros think about this word. Actually, they've sometimes totally different words, but I assume that they'd prefer "alright" informally and "all right" in formal letters.


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## gaer

timpeac said:
			
		

> It's not a slang form!! No one will raise an eyebrow if you use it in the UK.
> 
> Edit - well to be fair, that's my opinion, and that of my partner. However looking back on this thread I am the only Brit to have participated, even the sources quoted have been US.
> 
> Are there no other Brits out there reading this? What do you think? Have I misunderstood the standing of this word all this time??


Tim,

Results *1* - *10* of about *9,250,000* for *"alright"*
Results *1* - *10* of about *9,930,000* for *"all right"*

I'm not going to try to figure out which of these over 9 million hits are BE vs. AE, but it seems to me this is pretty good evidence that either spelling is fine. Period.

My advice would be to use "all right" just to avoid being "slammed" by people who insist that there is only one right answer here and in countless situations.

But it continues to irritate me that such inflexible, close-minded people have so much power over the rest of us.

In addition what about this?

*Alright — All right ?* 

This is yet AGAIN a matter I don't give a d--- about, but I'm surprised someone has not had a cow over the extra space before the question mark, which is incorrect in English and German but correct in French. 

Gaer


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## Cath.S.

> My advice would be to use "all right" just to avoid being "slammed" by people who insist that there is only one right answer here and in countless situations.
> 
> But it continues to irritate me that such inflexible, close-minded people have so much power over the rest of us.


Hi Gaer,
the painful people you're taling about only have the power others give them. 
My advice is : use the form you like as both are correct.


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## Whodunit

gaer said:
			
		

> Results *1* - *10* of about *9,250,000* for *"alright"*
> Results *1* - *10* of about *9,930,000* for *"all right"*



Where did you get these results from? Let me suggest what Google gives:

*Alright*   — 5,570,000 results.
*All right* — 9,920,000 results.


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## timpeac

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Where did you get these results from? Let me suggest what Google gives:
> 
> *Alright*   — 4,270,000 results.
> *All right* — 361,000,000 results.



Whodunit, did you have "exact phrase" for "all right" otherwise you are going to get all hits for "all" plus all hits for "right".

When I did it my results were similar to Gaer's.


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## Whodunit

timpeac said:
			
		

> Whodunit, did you have "exact phrase" for "all right" otherwise you are going to get all hits for "all" plus all hits for "right".
> 
> When I did it my results were similar to Gaer's.



Okay, sorry. I already edited it.


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## lainyn

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (my "bible" so to speak) says that alright is acceptable. I use alright in casual conversation over the internet, but if I'm concerned about getting slammed I say "all right'. This derivational affix "al-" should be used more often than it is, in my personal opinion. It's efficient and comprehensible by all native speakers.


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## Cath.S.

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Where did you get these results from? Let me suggest what Google gives:
> 
> *Alright* — 5,570,000 results.
> *All right* — 9,920,000 results.


This is very funny !
I mean, peculiar.
Using, of course, no filtering, I get
from Google.fr

alright : *3 850 000* 
all right : *9 900 000* 

Now from Google.com
alright : *5,740,000* 
all right : *11,100,000* 

I kid you not!  

Now this is not what I originally intended to post. I wanted to point out that 
_all right_ results include sentences like
 "the city should consider banning *all* *right* turns*"* .


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## Whodunit

egueule said:
			
		

> This is very funny !
> I mean, peculiar.
> Using, of course, no filtering, I get
> from Google.fr
> 
> alright : *3 850 000*
> all right : *9 900 000*
> 
> Now from Google.com
> alright : *5,740,000*
> all right : *11,100,000*
> 
> I kid you not!
> 
> Now this is not what I originally intended to post. I wanted to point out that
> _all right_ results include sentences like
> "the city should consider banning *all* *right* turns*"* .



That's why I tried "All right" in quotation marks and I got those results. But I used Google.de!


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## jacinta

The natives are getting restless.  I hate to be a partypooper so I won't do anything drastic like close this thread.  I will just suggest that you share google results privately (PM).  I believe we are beating a dead horse here.


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## gaer

egueule said:
			
		

> Hi Gaer,
> the painful people you're taling about only have the power others give them.
> My advice is : use the form you like as both are correct.


Well, you already know I think both forms are alright. 

Gaer


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## HistofEng

Interestingly enough, I'm American and never hesitate to use *"alright,"*

I don't think I'd ever write *"all right"*

weird, huh?


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## river

*all right*. Two words. Avoid _alright._ Unless, of course, you say _alwrong._


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## majlo

well, since I'm not a native speaker I can only tell you what my dictionary says, and namely if you type alright you'll see a link to all right where all usages are explained. Though, without looking up in the dictionary I'd say all right.


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## Gordonedi

I always (whatever happened to *all ways* ?) use *all right*.


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## Aud Duck

I'm American, but it had never ocurred to me that "alright" would be wrong before I read this thread. Reading it, I've gotten the impression that even in America, it's just grammar purists that use "all right." Then again, maybe that's just my preference for British novels showing itself. I've been known to pick up British-isms that way before.

By the bye, the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary doesn't seem to have any problem with "alright." It lists both forms.


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## panjandrum

The OED doesn't have any trouble with it either, but of course it lists all kinds of words and usages that are not acceptable formally (or in English exams).


> The use of _all right_, or inability to see that there is anything wrong with _alright_, reveals one's background, up-bringing, education, etc., perhaps as much as any word in the language.


New Fowler's Modern English Usage.


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## timpeac

Really? Well as someone who singularly fails to see anything wrong with "alright" I would love to know what that reveals about my background and up-bringing.

I know that my education and up-bringing mean that I notice that that sentence of Fowler's is missing a "that of" between "as much as" and "any word in the language" since we are talking about the _use of_ the word rather than the word itself...


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## judkinsc

Frankly, what it says about me is that I grew up reading a ton of books (a great deal of them fiction), which used "alright" exclusively.  Thus, it is natural for me to use "alright" rather than "all right."


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## AnotherStephen

I see this is a subject that runs and runs.

Only this week I was informed in these forums, that I'd committed a "common error" in spelling the word as _alright_.


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## zena168

I think it might have to do with the way we used it like a slang when we say “Alright!” –meaning “Cool!” “Okay!” “Already then!”   I’ve always been told to change it to “all right” during formal writing.  It seems that “alright” were somewhat recognized for the slang expression and not the “all right” meaning.  But I did see “alright” in some of the books, just not often.  I believe the distinction was made due to the difference in pronunciation.  “All right” in the text often have a longer “l” sound than when we say the expression “Alright!” [A/E]


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## A90Six

From my English usage guide:



> In the words of an old rule, *It is not all right to write 'alright'*. The correct form, for both adverb and adjective, remains two separate words - *all right*.
> 
> The temptation to use the spelling *alright* is threefold: first, it is usually pronounced as a single word, the *all* being only weakly sounded; secondly, there is the analogy of *almost*, *already*, and *altogether*; thirdly, there is the urge to distinguish the usual uses of the phrase - *satisfactory*, *correct*, *permitted*, and so on (for which the spelling *alright* is common) from the use in which the two words are quite independent, as in *He did twenty sums and got them all right*. Nevertheless, the spelling *alright* has not been accepted into standard English, and should be used, if at all, only in very informal writing.
> 
> It is striking that purists who claim to want English to make more distinctions rather than fewer have nevertheless here set their faces against one distinction (that between *all right* and *alright*) that is firmly based on analogy with other similar pairs. But *all right* remains the only standard form, even when an independent *all* precedes it: *I visited the five patients today, and can report that they're all all right*.
> 
> If *all right* is wanted as an informal adjective directly before a noun, it is best hyphenated: *an all-right guy*.


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## swyves

I remember reading an article suggesting that "all right" is used to mean "satisfactory" while "alright" means excellent, very good.


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## timpeac

swyves said:
			
		

> I remember reading an article suggesting that "all right" is used to mean "satisfactory" while "alright" means excellent, very good.


For me "all right" means "everything to the right" and "alright" means "ok, satisfactory, to the agreed standard" etc (but not "excellent", other than in deliberate understatement, which to be fair it often is).


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## swyves

The article I read was citing popular song lyrics, and found only one reference to "alright" as "satisfactory", in The Beatles' _Strawberry Fields Forever_, where the author pointed out that it was qualified by "That is I think it's not too bad". It was fairly convincing, but I'd still say it was a bit bombastic in terms of only looking at the evidence from one point of view.


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## timpeac

swyves said:
			
		

> The article I read was citing popular song lyrics, and found only one reference to "alright" as "satisfactory", in The Beatles' _Strawberry Fields Forever_, where the author pointed out that it was qualified by "That is I think it's not too bad". It was fairly convincing, but I'd still say it was a bit bombastic in terms of only looking at the evidence from one point of view.


Which English are you (presuming there's no native "English" in Peru). The question's a serious one - there appears to be a very definite difference between the English who do not mind "alright" at all (and indeed I'd say that this side of the atlantic we are much less prescriptive generally) and the Yanks who generally think "alright" is a fault. Given your views let me hazard (always a dangerous thing) that you are of the American continent persuasion.


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## swyves

I'm British, but the article I was referring to was written by an American. Thinking back, I believe that most of the song references were to British bands.


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## timpeac

swyves said:
			
		

> I'm British, but the article I was referring to was written by an American. Thinking back, I believe that most of the song references were to British bands.


Well, I knew I was setting myself up for a fall by calling you American. I bet that the song references were of British bands though - if you've lived in Peru for a while then any English you've been exposed to is probably AE biased. I never knew that anyone would have a problem with "alright" before these forums, and certainly have always written that and certainly have never had a teacher correct it.


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## swyves

That's fair -- I also have a tendency to modify my usage to a more AE based hybrid (despite UK accent) as generally BE speakers are more "bilingual" than Americans. By that I mean people from the UK or Ireland will understand an American term even if they wouldn't use it, whereas British terms seem more likely to confuse Americans.


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## panjandrum

Every time I come across this topic I wonder why so many people need to write either alright or all right.

I think I probably say it as much as anyone else around here, but for some reason I never seem to want to write it.  Does that put me in a small minority, I wonder?


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## foxfirebrand

I too was taught that "all right" was the only correct form. As things have evolved, I use "alright" adverbially (the engine had problems but it ran alright) and "all right" when the adverbial sense moves more to the adjectival, as when placed in apposition (not unlike an objective or subjective complement)-- "Everything turned out all right."

You tell me, is "all right" in that sentence an adverb or adjective? Does it modify "turned out," or is "turned out" an appositive (linking) verb, and does it modify "everything."

I guess "Everything turned out right" is possible, so if you can substitute "right" for either of the phrases involving "all," you can't spell it "alright."   If "right" doesn't work just as well, you can.
.


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## xellosu

My schooling was in India, and I could expect a sound rap on the knuckles for spelling it "all right".
"Alright" was alright, of course.


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## curly

i have always been under the impression that they aer two completely different words

alright -ok, sure, if you want and ok, satisfactory, sufficient..

all right- totally correct, flawless, not a single mistake...


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## timpeac

curly said:
			
		

> i have always been under the impression that they aer two completely different words
> 
> alright -ok, sure, if you want and ok, satisfactory, sufficient..
> 
> all right- totally correct, flawless, not a single mistake...


It seems to be our American friends, well some of them, who have the biggest problem with "alright". I wasn't aware of it being an issue until these forums either!


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## AnotherStephen

Were _already_, and _altogether_ once "all ready" and "all together"?

I'm guessing they were. Did armies of er, dare I say, pedants, once insist that writing "already" or "altogether" was a crime? If so, they lost and are probably losing the "alright" battle as well.

Isn't it a bit of a cheek for Americans to insist on keeping the word in question as _all right_, when they have changed the spellings of a good number of other words from the way the Brits spell them?


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## daviesri

AnotherStephen said:
			
		

> Were _already_, and _altogether_ once "all ready" and "all together"?
> 
> I'm guessing they were. Did armies of er, dare I say, pedants, once insist that writing "already" or "altogether" was a crime? If so, they lost and are probably losing the "alright" battle as well.
> 
> Isn't it a bit of a cheek for Americans to insist on keeping the word in question as _all right_, when they have changed the spellings of a good number of other words from the way the Brits spell them?


 
Frankly, I take offense to this.  I do not believe that all Americans insist on keeping 'All right" as is.  Many of us have given answers based on what they were taught in school.  Words evolve and spellings change.  It just takes time for the changes to be accepted. 

This thread died once in May of 2005 when it was originally added.  It was resurrected in December of 2005 for some reason and now you have done it again in August 2006.  Let this thread die.  I think it has been nit-picked enough.


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## gaer

AnotherStephen said:
			
		

> Isn't it a bit of a cheek for Americans to insist on keeping the word in question as _all right_, when they have changed the spellings of a good number of other words from the way the Brits spell them?


In 1924 the Society for Pure English published a symposium on _alright_.

Leading the attack was H. W. Fowler. There have been many pedants expressing disapproval, on both sides of the pond. At present the QED lists "alright" as a frequent spelling of "all right".

Today "alright" seems to be at least slightly more accepte in print in the UK, but handbooks in the UK often continue to disapprove.

MW online gives a short summary of the usage in the US. It also does not say that the spelling is incorrect.

The acceptance of "alright" as "all right" is less about AE and BE than about ignorance of the history of both spellings.


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## AnotherStephen

I still don't see why it is that _alright_ upsets some people so much, why it is that some consider those that spell this word as _alright_ should be regarded as uncouth.

Interestingly, or perhaps not, there is a Wikipedia entry for _alright_ but not "all right".


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## Celador

daviesri said:
			
		

> Frankly, I take offense to this. I do not believe that all Americans insist on keeping 'All right" as is. Many of us have given answers based on what they were taught in school. Words evolve and spellings change. It just takes time for the changes to be accepted.
> 
> This thread died once in May of 2005 when it was originally added. It was resurrected in December of 2005 for some reason and now you have done it again in August 2006. Let this thread die. I think it has been nit-picked enough.


 
Hear, hear... By the way, it is taught as "all right" in British schools, while "alright" is specifically taught as being wrong. Moreover, "alright" is not in the Oxford English Reference Dictionary even as a variant.


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## GavinCorder

Celador said:
			
		

> Hear, hear... By the way, it is taught as "all right" in British schools, while "alright" is specifically taught as being wrong. Moreover, "alright" is not in the Oxford English Reference Dictionary even as a variant.



It's in my 1994 Chambers though, as "an alternative, less acceptable spelling of all right". So it must be alright ish!


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## Celador

I have been challenegd for empirical evidence. Accordingly, I refer to the Oxford English Dictionary, the dictionary used by British courts. Using their online version, the two variant spellings of this word produce the following results:

*all right*

  • *adjective* *1* satisfactory; acceptable. *2* permissible. 
  • *adverb* fairly well. 
  • *exclamation* expressing or asking for agreement or acceptance.
*alright*

*Sorry, there were no results for your search.*



*I rest my case*


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## timpeac

This is your one piece of evidence that you have already cited above: The lack of its appearance in the Oxford dictionary. It also goes no way to supporting your assertations that "alright" is actively censured in schools, or that you can decide good and bad schools on that basis.

You rest your case? Well I _suppose_ it makes sense to have little evidence to support an argument that is so weak.


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## Kelly B

I believe the topic is exhausted. I certainly am.

This topic is locked.


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## panjandrum

Sorry, but I feel compelled to post a correction:





			
				Celador said:
			
		

> I have been challenegd for empirical evidence. Accordingly, I refer to the Oxford English Dictionary, the dictionary used by British courts. Using their online version, the two variant spellings of this word produce the following results:
> *all right*
> • *adjective* *1* satisfactory; acceptable. *2* permissible.
> • *adverb* fairly well.
> • *exclamation* expressing or asking for agreement or acceptance.
> 
> *alright*
> *Sorry, there were no results for your search.*


I hope I may be forgiven for re-posting, with a quote, what I said last year. Following a post that stated:





> By the bye, the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary doesn't seem to have any problem with "alright." It lists both forms.


... I said:





> The OED doesn't have any trouble with it either, but of course it lists all kinds of words and usages that are not acceptable formally (or in English exams).


It seems I must restate this more vigorously, so I quote from the Oxford English Dictionary:


> alright
> a frequent spelling of _all right_.


While this does no change my distaste for alright (nor did it in December last) I am provoked to make this addition by the statement, above, that is at odds with my OED service.


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