Talk:alright

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Latest comment: 10 years ago by CMBJ in topic "Considered incorrect"
Jump to navigation Jump to search

all right is listed as adj., alright listed as adv.? --Connel MacKenzie T C 20:23, 11 February 2006 (UTC)Reply

"an alright couch" - as in, "a decent couch."

English language usage, as accepted and defined within Marriam-Webster Dictionary, and counless usage throughout English literature. As antonym, provides distinct definition difference from Literal usages All Right (Everything Correct), to alternate meaning (perhaps, derived originally through use in Slang) of "so-so" or Okay, but NOT "All Right" of todays English. Joseph M. Lenard Sunjday January 21, 2007 05:21 JosephLenard

OED gives first appearance as adv in c1175 as "alriht" meaning "exactly" and first appearance as contraction of "all right" as 1893 82.11.41.163 03:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Comparable?[edit]

The page all right declares that the term is not comparable (though it gives one example of a legitimate comparable usage). Why then is the variant spelling considered comparable?

Well, informally it is comparable in this form: "Sexism is considered more alright when it is aimed against men"; although other words would probably be more suitable in this usage, especially formally, it still stands that it's possible to express the desired meaning using this word comparatively, even if it's less alright than using a more suitable word like "acceptable". Dantai Amakiir 15:15, 30 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

"Considered incorrect"[edit]

Does the line about it being considered incorrect by some really need to be in all, if any, of the definition entries? Surely a separate usage warning would be more appropriate? --90.204.179.111 00:31, 1 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

"Considered incorrect", maybe. But it's not actually incorrect, and the people who considered it incorrect did so several years after the fact, and had no real reasons for doing so that stand up to scrutiny. The word has been around for 166 years, only 20 years short of how long all right itself has been around. See this Frequently Given Answer for details. Jonathan de Boyne Pollard 06:44, 29 December 2008 (UTC)Reply

It's allways (!) worth noting that some folks think a usage is wrong, so that one has the option of using something less-objected-to. When writing carefully I'd just as soon use something that didn't slow readers down or make them angry, except when I explicitly want to. DCDuring Holiday Greetings! 12:37, 29 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
Wiktionary is not prescriptionist. The [of wiktionary is only to report on language usage], not to decide what is right or wrong. Dantai Amakiir 15:15, 30 May 2011 (UTC)Reply

Not a misspelling?[edit]

Moved to Talk:already by mistake from Wiktionary:Requests for verification, and from there to here. Was about alright, not already.

Surely we're being pedantic. This is no longer a misspelling (197 million occurences on Google). — Saltmarshαπάντηση 06:35, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

This spelling drives me crazy, but I agree that it can no longer be called an error. --BB12 (talk) 06:40, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
How about we call it informal and an alternative spelling? AHD and Macmillan call it nonstandard. Many others have it without remark. Garner's American Usage doesn't like it. We should note the disagreement in Usage notes, I suppose. DCDuring TALK 13:22, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
Please take a look and revert or revise. DCDuring TALK 13:30, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
Somewhere or other Fowler's Modern English Usage uses the phrase "the battle is lost" (refering to conservative elements objecting to some new usage/spelling). I think this applies to any objection to "alright" being anything other than an alternative spelling. The new entry seems about right to me. — Saltmarshαπάντηση 15:40, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
This is on the wrong forum though; unless I'm missing something, you're not questioning the existence of the term. Quite the opposite in fact. Mglovesfun (talk) 17:35, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
It should have been a tearoom item. Perhaps we can just close it out in a couple of days directly to the Talk:alright. DCDuring TALK 17:58, 9 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
Sounds alright to me. (oops) -- ALGRIF talk 12:45, 10 August 2012 (UTC)Reply