All right vs. alright?

[Grojlach]

Okay, after skimming through a grammar pet peeve thread on another forum, I was surprised to see that grammar nazis really frown upon the use of 'alright', as opposed to all right. I've personally always used the former because I thought it 'looked' better, mostly because of stress related reasons, but I had never even heard of any controversy going on. Though apparently there seems to be one regardless, according to dictionary.com:

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.

So is this a controversy that is really widely known among English native speakers, and is the usage of 'alright' really that much worse and more informal than 'all right'? Which one do you personally prefer?

[Larry_OHF]

Not only have I never heard of this controversy...I have seen professors on college campuses use the spelling of "alright" in their lectures. I am amazed that this is a problem for some people.

After googling for more information, I came across these for your reading entertainment.

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

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/alright.html

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Hm. Leave it to the mistress of language to put so much thought into a post like this.

I used to use "All right" exclusively, but this is a battle I'm willing to compromise on, for my own twisted reasons. "Alright" and "All right" have two different feels to them, so I switch up when I need to.

"Alright" is casual and sporty and can never fail. If it were an article of clothing, it would be a cute black cocktail dress and a pair of pumps.

"Just a sec, I need to get my shoes on... Alright, let's go."

"All right" is more dramatic. It's an evening gown with a split 3/4 up the side. It's a Mardi Gras costume. It's a pair of red spike heels. It's a head scarf and dark sunglasses.

"Are you all right?" "Am I all right? Am I all RIGHT?! MY CAT FELL IN THE WOOD CHIPPER AND I JUST FELL DOWN FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS! OF COURSE I'M NOT ALL RIGHT!"

[Felix The Assassin]

In a world that is doing alright, things can be considered 'peachy':

alright
adv. Nonstandard

adj : nonstandard usage adv 1: used to reinforces an assertion; "it's expensive all right" [syn: all right, without doubt] 2: sentence-initial expression of agreement [syn: very well, fine, all right, OK] 3: in a satisfactory or adequate manner; "she'll do okay on her own"; "held up all right under pressure"; (`alright' is a nonstandard variant of `all right') [syn: okay, O.K., all right]

Then again, if things would have held up down South, then they'd be all right:

all right
adj.
In proper or satisfactory operational or working order: checked to see if the tires were all right.
Acceptable; agreeable: Delaying the repair is all right by me.
all-right (ôlrt) Informal. Satisfactory; good: an all-right fellow; an all-right movie.

adv.
In a satisfactory way; adequately: I held up all right under pressure.
Very well; yes. Used as a reply to a question or to introduce a declaration: All right, I'll go.
Without a doubt: It's cold, all right.

"Awright" is the word to answer the greeting, "how are you"? 'Awright'.
But, If I'm writing a report about some stupid subject, then things might be 'all right' if they hold under pressure.
However, for the Americanism in me, it's just, alright!

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Maybe we British are anal about these things, but I've always been taught - in school at least - that "alright" is incorrect, especially in English class, and examiners hate it. Apparently, they hate a lot of other things, like swearing, but that's besides the point.

Personally, I dislike the spelling of the word "alright". It just looks and *feels* wrong. Maybe it's just how I've been brought up [img]tongue.gif[/img] . Just my two "cents".

[Bungleau]

I use "all right". The other doesn't make sense to me.

I also despise the mis-spelling of "y'all" from wannabe southerners. It's a contraction for "You all", and the apostrophe goes where the letters used to be. When you write it "Ya'll", it becomes a contraction for "Ya will", and I'm prone to responding "Ya'll do what?"

The plural of y'all is all y'all. It corresponds directly to "youse" and "youse guys".

[Sever]

Go and sleep with someone, all of you.

[Hivetyrant]

Originally posted by Sever: Go and sleep with someone, all of you.

lol, you said, what teh rest of us were thinking

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

Originally posted by Sever: Go and sleep with someone, all of you.

What makes you think some of us haven't? [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

[Lanesra]

Just say "okay"!