Feelin' al[l ]right

[michelel72]

So, tell me true, flist: Has alright (for all right or okay) actually crossed the critical-mass boundary from misspelling to acceptable neologism? I've suddenly been seeing it everywhere. I always correct it when I beta, but should I just give up and (grudgingly) let it pass? (Or, more likely, take my usual route of inserting a long-winded and pedantic usage note in brackets and leaving the choice up to the writer?)

I try to be accepting of falsely derived terms and variant forms if they serve a distinct purpose. I just don't see any use to introducing alright for all right, though; are there really that many contexts in which readers might confuse the okay interpretation with the each member correct interpretation? Or am I just being too prescriptivist on this one?

I'd usually see what the interwebs think, but the clearest write-ups I can find, although they agree alright is not (yet) standard, are over two years old. That's practically a generation in internet years.

Comments

[carolyn_claire]

Kill it! Kill it with fire! I will never not point it out in beta. And beat it with sticks. Also the author.

[michelel72]

Hee. I will at the very least point it out. Thanks!

[skaredykat]

Alas, I have by now officially given in and given up the fight against "alright" -- 'though forsooth, it didst paineth me to do so!

(Also, belatedly, happy new year to you!)

[michelel72]

Hee — I was wavering, but the resolve of much of my flist hath firmed my own. Or something. Thanks, and happy new year!

[rhu]

M-W NI3 unabridged says:

in reputable use although all right is more common

[michelel72]

I'll be honest, I'd be curious to know what M-W considers "reputable use". I'm also amused by the carefully neutral tone they've taken there.

[sentientcitizen]

"Alright" does not actually mean "all right" anymore, though. I mean, when I'm saying that something is alright, I'l actually saying that it's acceptable or reasonably okay; if something was actually all right, I'd use different vocabulary; perfect or excellent or ideal, etc, depending on the situation.

Which is sort of a roundabout way of saying that I've been using it for years and don't intend to stop now. *grin* I also use "alot", despite Hyperbole and a Half's awareness-raising efforts.

In my head, they're textual contractions, kind of like cannot. You're still saying "can not", you're just slurring the words together, and so the text reflects that. I don't clearly enunciate the division between "all" and "right" in casual conversation, and similarly I don't feel the need to type it out as two different words in casual writing. Everyone understands what I mean.

[sentientcitizen]

(Ahahaha, for a post about spelling/grammar there are an appalling number of spelling/grammar errors in there. Whoops.)

[michelel72]

So when did "all right" stop meaning "all right" then, though? I'd disagree; "all right" has always meant "acceptable", and it hasn't meant (and still doesn't mean) "perfect".

All I can do about it is complain, though; it's not as if I can stop you! (But "alot" is not even a real thing. ::side-eyes you hard::)

I think "alright" will eventually become a "real" word, Pinocchio-like. Certainly it's on its way. There is apparently still a strong tide opposing it as unnecessary for now, though — at least, judging by my prescriptivist-tending flist. I understand it, sure, but it makes me twitch, rather like seeing "enormity" used to mean "hugeness" (or seeing "comprise" used backwards) does. That interrupts the flow and pulls me out of the text.

(It's like ... I saw a fic in which John Sheppard said, in dialogue, "WTF". I know it means "what the fuck", and I'd have no issue if he'd actually said that, but ... John Sheppard is not a guy who is going to use internet-speak in serious conversation. It's distracting.)

[sentientcitizen]

I suppose I could more accurately have said that "alright" NEVER meant "all right" and I don't mind the existence of a distinction now that it's almost moved beyond an idiomatic phrase to become almost a word in its own right via continuous usage. Um. Does that make sense? Keep in mind that I'm tired and just trying to clear out some tabs before bed. *laughs*

Alot is not even a real thing. *sheepish grin* But I probably won't stop. I'm a bit awful like that. Sophia once told me that if she'd met me on the internet instead of IRL she would probably have hated me on sight.

Enormity... does not mean hugeness? The enormity of the situation?

...okay, no, chat acronyms used in dialogue by anyone not either a teenage girl or attempting to be ironic are not okay. That's just hugely distracting.

[michelel72]

I'm still not sure I agree, because one meaning of "all right" is "okay" and "alright" is a false formation to mean "okay", so. But "alright" certainly is on its way to real-word-ness; I'll agree that far.

As for "enormity", nope. Its primary meaning is, quoting from that link, "Extreme wickedness, nefariousness." Folks who just look at the word and see its similarity to "enormous" have taken it for being simply the noun form, though, so that the third meaning listed at that link reflects that usage (but see the usage note). "The enormity of the situation" is fine for a Wraith siege, but not so much for a dilemma over, say, proposing to someone. English: Littered with traps for the unwary!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Please do keep fighting the good fight against "alright"!

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

I will stand fast at the barricades! Hee. (Also, perfect icon!)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Years ago, someone corrected my 'allright' to 'alright' and mentioned that 'all right' is an alternative.

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

That is odd. I'd agree that either the single "l" or the space is needed, and if you're going to accept the former the latter is an alternative; but years ago, particularly, "alright" was even less common/accepted than it currently is. That said, I wonder if it's a regional thing; Garner apparently says "alright" was more accepted in British English than in American English as of a few years ago, for example ....

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Please hold the line! Every formerly wrong word we give takes a piece of our collectives souls! I'm waiting for texting abbreviations to start getting allowed; then I'll know we've gone past civilized, heading back toward cavemen.

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

As I just mentioned on the DW side, I'm convinced I recently read a fic in which an over-40 lieutenant colonel, in all seriousness, ended his sentence with "WTF." The language breakdown is coming from inside the house!

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should just move directly to "a'ight"; then everyone can say that the missing letters are whatever they want them to be.

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

I like it! But then I'm street like that.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Not valid in my opinion... for whatever that's worth...

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

You're in good company — it looks as if most of my flist agrees! I will hold the line! (Thanks!)