Thursday, January 22, 2015

ALRIGHT! 









The Daily News

1   Alright.

2   I went in yesterday teaching students right from wrong when it comes to grammar.

3   My weapon: a mint condition copy of Warriner's English Grammar and Composition. Fourth Course circa 1982. I have purchased many over the years, but this was a relic.

4   I decided to throw a few shocking realities to the students.

5   "Let's begin with anyways," I began. "There is no word anyways. The word you wish to say is anyway. Ladies and gents, there is no 'S' at the end of the word."

6   "The past form of lead, as in, 'You must learn to lead with kindness,' is led, not lead."

7    In both instances I watched students go wide-eyed. Anyways in particular stunned the room. Kids' faces flushed; a number of the students wanted to hide. One girl wanted to disappear. Forever.

 8   Students sometimes feel they know grammar, but when  I present them with these nuggets, they listen more.

9   I then sprang (or sprung, both correct) my ace-in-the-hole. "There is no alright. Alright is not all right." 

 10   This news launched a cell-phone blitz. I stood tall for any and all retaliation. 

 11   This one I've loved forever. Curse alright and all it stands for! I challenged them to prove me wrong.

12   I don't trust most grammar websites. 

 13   A great many offer quick 'n' easy solutions to every grammar situation imaginable. 

 14  There is a market, and there are plenty of experts willing to offer vials of snake oil for a price.

15   I wielded my armor and shield, p. 537 in my Warriner's edition of English Grammar and Composition. Under the heading Words Frequently Confused is this delicacy:

all right       [This is the only acceptable spelling. The spelling                     alright is not acceptable.]

 16   Game, set and match.

 17   After a few minutes, one brave lad approached with his cell. It was a Google definition. Here it is, in all its wretched glory:
all right
adjective
adjective: alright
  1. 1.
    satisfactory but not especially good; acceptable.
    "the tea was all right"
    synonyms:satisfactory, acceptable, adequate, fairly good, passable, reasonable;More


adverb
adverb: alright
  1. 1.
    in a satisfactory manner or to a satisfactory extent; fairly well.
    "everything will turn out all right"
    synonyms:satisfactorily, adequately, fairly well, passably, acceptably,reasonably;
    informalOK
    "the system works all right"
  2. 2.
    used to emphasize how certain one is about something.
    "“Are you sure it's him?” “It's him all right.”"
    synonyms:definitely, certainly, unquestionably, undoubtedly, indubitably,
    undeniably, assuredly, for sure, without (a) doubt, beyond (any) doubt,beyond the shadow of a doubt; More
exclamation
exclamation: alright
  1. 1.
    expressing or asking for assent, agreement, or acceptance.
    "all right, I'll tell you"
    synonyms:very well (then), fine, good, yes, agreed, right (then); More
18   

 19   You're kidding me, right?

 20   

21   I looked up alright on Dictionary.com. If you are faint of heart, don't continue. Here is the Dictionary.com definition of alright:










alright

[awl-rahyt]











adverb
1.
all right.
Can be confused
all right, alright (see usage note at the current entry)
Usage note
The form alright as a one-word spelling of the phrase all right in all of its senses probably arose by analogy with such words as already and altogether. Although alright is a common spelling in written dialogue and in other types of informal writing, all right is used in more formal, edited writing.










Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2015.
Cite This Source
Examples from the web for alright

  • The chemist said it would be alright, but I've never been the same.
  • Well this stuff succeeded in establishing itself alright - now it is everywhere.
  • Music play, mostly at 10 cents, does alright during the day.





British Dictionary definitions for alright





alright

/ɔːlˈraɪt/

adverb, sentence substitute, adjective
1.
a variant spelling of all right
Usage note
The form alright, though very common, is still considered by many people to be wrong or less acceptable than all right
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cite This Source
Word Origin and History for alright






frequent spelling of all right, attested from 1893.
There are no such forms as all-right, or allright, or alright, though even the last, if seldom allowed by the compositors to appear in print, is often seen ... in MS. [Fowler]


Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

 22  Ladies and gentlemen, it is the end of Western civilization as we know it.

 23   Here is Merriam-Webster's go on it:

Definition of ALRIGHT

:  all right
See alright defined for English-language learners »
See alright defined for kids »

Usage Discussion of ALRIGHT

Although the spelling alright is nearly as old as all right, some critics have insisted alright is all wrong. Nevertheless it has its defenders and its users, who perhaps have been influenced by analogy with altogether and already. It is less frequent than all right but remains common especially in informal writing. It is quite common in fictional dialogue and is sometimes found in more formal writing <the first two years of medical school were alright — Gertrude Stein>.

First Known Use of ALRIGHT

1810

Learn More About ALRIGHT


24  I need to run screaming. Last hope: The Oxford English Dictionary. Surely they should know. 

 25  I dare not peek.

26  I peeked. I was hurled into a post-apocalyptic stupor. I am Charlton Heston on my knees in the sand and looking up. Nova doesn't get it either.

† alright, adv.

View as:
Quotations:
Forms:  ... (Show More)
Etymology:  < all adv. + right adv. Compare later all right adv.
With the β. forms compare rights adv., -rights suffix.
Compare also the Old English noun eallriht ( < all adj. + right n.), attested only in the phrase in eallriht ‘in complete accordance with the law’:
OE   Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti (Junius) 182   Wer, gif he geðeoded bið in hæmede ðam wife þe his cynnes sy, æfter his wifes deaðe geðeode eft þæs wifes magum in ællriht.
(Show Less)
Obs.
Thesaurus »
 

 1. Exactly, just. Chiefly modifying so. Cf. right adv. 4.

OE   Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) lxxii. 131   Ealswa yfel biternesse anda and æfst ascyred [read ascyreð] fram Gode.., ealrihte swa god anda and anhering ascyreð fram synna leahtrum.
lOE   Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127   Þær he wunede eallriht swa drane doð on hiue.
?c1200   Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 14157   Ure laferrd crist..wollde tacnenn swa Þatt he wass cumenn..All rihht alls iff he wollde Brid ale settenn, forr þatt he An brid himm wollde chesenn Off all mann kinn.
a1225  (▸?OE)    MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 133   Alrihtes swa alse þe wise teolie þenne he wule sawe nimeð ȝeme of twam þingen.
a1225  (▸?OE)    MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 135   Alrihtes swa alse me saweð sed on ane time..al swa mon deð nuðe his dede in þisse liue.
a1250  (▸?a1200)    Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 40,   & alriht so of ðe oðre wittes.
1487  (▸a1380)    J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xv. 105   Apon paske evin all richt To the castell..come schippis xv.
(Hide quotations)
 2. Used for emphasis with prepositions and prepositional phrases.
 

 a. Entirely, completely, fully, quite. Cf. right adv. 7.

?c1200   Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8208   Forr þi sloh herode king Allrihht forr nohht ta chill-dre.
(Hide quotations)
 

 b. All the way, straight. Cf. right adv. 2a.

?c1200   Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 17161   Ne maȝȝ nan mann her wurrþi ben..To cumenn fra þe laþe gast All rihht inn till me sellfenn.
(Hide quotations)
 

 3. Straightaway, at once. Cf. right adv. 3.

c1300  (▸?c1225)    King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 699 (MED),   And þider þu go al riȝt.
c1300  (▸?c1225)    King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 1428   Ffikenhild, or þe dai gan springe, Al riȝt he ferde to þe kinge.
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27

28   The Kid was Alright.

 29   


30  If I had a horse I'd jump off it. 

31  This is why we curmudge.

32  SMH.

33  That means, "Shaking My Head."

34   I hope. 

35   No wonder I hide behind old movies. 

36   Ah, sometimes you just have to roll with it. 

37   I will officially throw a comforter over my head and protect myself from all of this. 

38   Or perhaps take comfort in wise words. 

39   Wherever you come near the human race there's layers and layers of nonsense. 
                                                 --Stage Manager, Thornton                                                    Wilder's Our Town

40   Yes there are.

41   I'll leave now, with a smile and a wink. 

42   Take none of this serious. 

43   Live life.

44   Love life.

45   Peace.
~H~














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