Comments on: Is “alright” all right?

By: Casey Goranson

Casey Goranson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:55:37 +0000

While the use of “alright” may be frowned upon by some, it has a fine pedigree. Ever heard of the hymn “Love the Lord alway”? That’s the old way of saying “always”. It’s hundreds of years old.
“Always”has undergone the exact same change as “alright”. Look:

“He’s going out every evening, and it’s always with that girl of his.”
Here, “always” means “on every occasion”

“He’s going out every evening, and it’s all ways with that girl of his.”
Here, “all ways” means “in every manner” (as well as other hidden meanings!).

The two meanings have diverged completely. As has been detailed above, “alright” and “all right” are well on their way to a similar semantic bifurcation.
Would you criticize someone for writing “always” instead of “all ways”? If not, then does it not seem a double standard to criticise “alright”?

By: Learner

Learner — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:52:45 +0000

its just so good to learn new things!!!

By: learner

learner — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:49:59 +0000

since that many people are using “alright” rather than “all right” maybe someday they accept ” alright” in the formal English grammar.

on the second thought I thought “all right is alright” but thanks to the one who post it.I finally understand the mystery of that words.

By: MT

MT — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:30:03 +0000

On the alright vs. all right…if ‘alright’ is not accepted in formal documents, such as in my field of medical typing, and ‘all right’ is the preferred/used term…then what makes that any different from already vs. all ready? Already – meaning previous/soon and all ready – meaning entirely ready? Wouldn’t that make alright – meaning okay or in agreement and all right – meaning correct?

Oh the joy of the English language…

By: English minor

English minor — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:37:22 +0000

Ms. Roro,

I believe you meant, What is the difference instead of what is the different between picture, image and photo?

Because this site is to assist one another, or so I was led to believe, I am responding. Also, a picutre and/or photo are actually images reflected by an artist or a camera.

Hope this help you.