Everything alright? 1

[Rofeu]

I must have heard this phrase a thousand times, but this morning it struck me as odd:

"Everything will be alright"

Does the 'al' in alright not already cover the 'everything'?

Should it not be either:

a) Everything will be right.
b) It will be alright.
or
c) All will be right.
?

Cheers,

Roel

 

[LizSara]

Is alright a word?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoever battles with monsters had better see that it does not turn him into a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." ~ Nietzsche"
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http://bionicyoghurt.blogspot.com/

 

[SF0751]

All right" is the spelling I'm used to.

American Heritage Dictionary: 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.

Susan
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

 

[rjoubert]

Does the 'al' in alright not already cover the 'everything'?

I suppose the 'al' in alright could also mean "completely"...as in, "everything is going to completely right." (instead of just 50% right, 50% wrong)

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I agree that "already" is non-standard (I actually just learned that a few years ago, so I can't really say anything), but y'all are ignoring the question.

"Everything will be alright"

Does the 'al' in alright not already cover the 'everything'?

"All right" acts as a word and has it's own definition.

all right

• adjective 1 satisfactory; acceptable. 2 permissible.

• adverb fairly well.

• exclamation expressing or asking for agreement or acceptance.

Saying that the "all" in "all right" makes the "everything" in "everything will be all right" redundant is a bit like saying the "lady" in "ladybug" makes the "she" in "she likes ladybugs" redundant.

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[tab][red]The plural of anecdote is not data[/red]

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[vanka25]

I agree that "already" is non-standard

And here I thought that already was pretty standard.

 

[flapeyre]

Funny, though. Google Toolbar's spell checker doesn't have a problem with already; it wants to change allready to already.

Enough, al[l]ready!

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo.

 

[kjv1611]

Word has no arguments with "alright."

Therefore, it MUST be okay!

By the way, when/how/where did the discussion shift from "alright" to "already." Seems like it just mysteriously changed in mid-thread! [GASP!]


--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[Michael52x]

I would guess that, for ya'll across the pond, it would be
"a'right". I agree with "all right".
When someone say's "alright", it means that something is okay. Or "bitchen", "groovy" , "cool" , etc.
Everything must still be included to qualify what is "all right".

"Impatience will reward you with dissatisfaction" RMS Cosmics'97

 

[AnotherHiggins]

I accidentally typed "already" in my last post. I meant to type:

"I agree that 'alright' is non-standard"

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[flapeyre]

kjv,
Nor does the Google spellchecker have a problem with alright. Allright is a misspelling, according to Google.

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo.

 

[SantaMufasa]

alright
One entry found.

alright

Main Entry: al·right
Pronunciation: \(?)o?l-?r?t, ?o?l-?\
Function: adverb or adjective
Date: 1887
: all right
usage 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 occasionally in other writing <the first two years of medical school were alright— Gertrude Stein>.

So, there we have it.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[2ffat]

Alrighty then.


James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[KenCunningham]

Alright already!

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[ascotta]

It'll be right !

[blue] A perspective from the other side!![/blue]

Cheers
Scott

 

[Rofeu]

Thanks for answering my question, John.
And I'm glad to have learnt another thing at the same. I never knew 'alright' was non-standard (probably because it is accepted by the spellcheck).

The meaning of 'fairly well' is a bit surprising. To me 'everything will be all right' has the connotation of 'don't worry, it'll all turn out for the best', while 'fairly well', seems to say that things will be not as bad as they seem, but far from being desirable.

Cheers,

Roel

 

[ChrisHunt]

I think al{l}{ }right can (in many contexts) be thought of as a synonym for "OK".

In some cases - where we're looking at a binary case of "is it OK/all right or isn't it?", both terms have an unreservedly positive spin: "there's been an accident, but don't worry - everybody's all right".

However, if we're describing something on a scale of values from awful to brilliant, all right/OK would rank somewhere in the middle: "How was the party?" "It was all right, but the music was too loud". That's where the "fairly well" meaning comes in.

The latter state is usually the case when using all right as an adverb:

Jummy did badly in the test
Jimmy did all right in the test
Jimmy did well in the test

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[CajunCenturion]

Jimmy would have done a lot better than all right had he answered more than some right.


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[KenCunningham]

...but Jummy's beyond hope I fear!

I want to be good, is that not enough?