Writing Advice: “Alright” vs. “All Right”: Which is “Right”?

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alright or all right?

Is It Ever Permissible to Use Alright?

Authors have penned alright for more than 130 years. Common sense suggests that public acceptance should justify the existence of a word.

However, people have also used ain’t, a frowned-upon contraction, since 1706. And irregardless, a nonstandard adverb despised by editors, appeared in the 1870s. Therefore, we can discard any “common-sense” argument.

You’ll also find administrate in many lists of disparaged words, and it has existed in print since the 1630s.

So … if alright has been around for more than a century, should we consider it all right to include it in our writing?

I researched the alright debate for a guest post at Chris the Story Reading Ape’s blog. Here’s what I discovered: Is “Alright” ever Alright?

And for More Questionable Words …

Search online for “list of nonstandard words” or something similar. You’ll find thousands of them.

If you’d like to research their etymology, look for them at Etymonline.com.

And You?

Have you heard nonstandard words that made your teeth tingle until you wanted to pull them out with a pair of plyers? Or maybe you’ve read them in books and wanted to smack the writer?

Find thousands of writing tips and word lists in
The Writer’s Lexicon series
and additional resources on my Facebook page.
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4 thoughts on “Writing Advice: “Alright” vs. “All Right”: Which is “Right”?”

  1. I cringe every time I encounter the spelling “alright”. I still remember using that spelling back in 1962 when I submitted a short story to my 8th grade teacher. He marked me down for spelling and said the correct term is “all right”. I bowed to his wisdom and have been doing so ever since.

    I know that usage and spellings change over time (which is why I’m not impressed with the 1884 statistic, back when “to-day” and “to-morrow” were common spellings), and words even change meaning (e.g., “gay” and “woke”). But I stand by “all right” even though it probably paints me as old and obstinate. I don’t care. Eventually “all right” will go away, but not while I’m alive.

    Just my dos centavos…

    • I, too, have been chastised for using “alright.” That was years ago, John, but I still remember the lesson. You’re an all right guy — not old and obstinate. 😉

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