Today my daughter brought a spelling test home where she had been marked wrong for writing 'alright'. What do you think - how should it be spelt? I've always spelt it 'alright'!
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, states, "Usage Note: 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. The difference may lie in the fact that already and altogether became single words back in the Middle Ages, whereas alright has only been around for a little more than a century and was called out by language critics as a misspelling. Consequently, one who uses alright, especially in formal writing, runs the risk that readers may view it as an error or as the willful breaking of convention." This dictionary lists "alright" as a nonstandard spelling.
It's on the list of "Frequently Misspelled Words" I am starting to work through with my students this week--spelled with 2 words.
I always thought all right meant someone was saying that everybody is right. Alright has a different meaning in my book but I'm not the dictionary. You are all right (correct). I hope you are alright (okay).
"All right" is probably one of the most, if not the most, commonly misspelled word in the English language. It's two words.
al·right —Usage note The form alright as a one-word spelling of the phrase all right in all of its senses probably arose by analogy with such words as already and altogether. Although alright is a common spelling in written dialogue and in other types of informal writing, all right is used in more formal, edited writing. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Not Alwrong As I was reading over the posts, I kept thinking about my teachers who told me: "We write 'all wrong' instead of 'alwrong' and we write 'all right' instead of 'alright.'" One of the more recent posters beat me to it but I'm posting it anyway. All right?:haha:
Spelling aside, I STILL read these sentences as all right (separated) means all are correct and it messes me up big time when it is supposed to apply to those other meanings. Seriously!
Just to beat a dead horse a bit more: From Wikipedia: Alright is the incorrect spelling of "all right," usually used as a slang term. [1] It is usually used to indicate that something is good but not great (so-so): "The play was alright." It is also used as an expression of great pleasure: "We won the championship! Alright!" Alright is also a common greeting in the United Kingdom, as in: "Alright mate?", "Alright (name)?", or just "Alright?" Although "Alright" has been in use for a little over a century, it is considered by experts to be an illegitimate spelling of the word.[2] This is in contrast to the similar words "already" and "altogether", which have been used as compound words and two separate words (all ready and all together) since the Middle Ages. Even though it often appears in print, the use of "alright" in any context other than slang is generally frowned upon in the USA (but not in Britain) and may be perceived as purposefully breaking convention.
Thanks for the little history. Yep, language grows and changes century by century. You know, Latin is the language which scientists use because it is a "dead" language. It remains as it was. I'm not sure when it died. It almost killed me! Comparing English to Anglo-Saxon is like comparing Italian to Latin. I wonder how long it will be before "alright" is "all right" everywhere?
