Alright or All Right?

[Cybeat]

Which is the correct way? Is "alright" okay to use? I've been writing "alright" for probably years now, and now I think typing "alright" in visual novels is wrong.

[Samu-kun]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
al·right Audio Help /ɔlˈraɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[awl-rahyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adverb
all right.
—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.

[Cybeat]

Okay. Thanks. I should change my "alright" to "all right" in my visual novel, then.

[Samu-kun]

Mmm... Personally, I use alright when it's a short acknowledgment and all right when it's a celebratory exclamation.

Ka "Chigara-san, could you pass me the hydro spanner?"
Ch "Alright, Kaito-san. Here it is."

Ka "Since it's Chigara-san's birthday tommarow, we're all going out to eat cake."
As "ALL RIGHT!"

[Cybeat]

Ah. The only time I won't be using "alright" is when I'm writing for a visual novel.

[Scout]

No, listen to what Samu said; it's only in formal context that "alright" is unacceptable. Don't use it in your term paper, but absolutely use it in your fiction.

[Jake]

No, listen to what Samu said; it's only in formal context that "alright" is unacceptable. Don't use it in your term paper, but absolutely use it in your fiction.

Further to this, I wouldn't actually usually use "all right" very much in a formal context, either - it's still a bit colloquial, and can typically be replaced with a more formal term like "acceptable" or "in working order" or "healthy" or whatever. So most of my usage will be of "alright".

Using "all right" in an informal context - like 99% of prose writing - is nearly always going to look stilted and awkward.

I'd agree with Samu-kun's usage, generally. Except that I don't tend to write the kind of characters who exclaim "All right!", so that doesn't get used so much.

[Vatina]

Hmmm interesting. I actually had this dilemma a while ago, and just decided to use "all right" all the way through my script to make sure - but I think I'll change it back now

[chronoluminaire]

That is interesting. I know several of my (British) friends who're fairly pedantic are of the opinion that you should never use "alright" - that it's just incorrect. I wouldn't quite go that far, but I much prefer "all right" wherever possible. Seeing "alright" makes me cringe slightly, even though I'd say it's not actually wrong per se.

[Jake]

That is interesting. I know several of my (British) friends who're fairly pedantic are of the opinion that you should never use "alright" - that it's just incorrect.

It's tempting to reply with nothing but "yes, but you live in Cambridge" ;P.
I mean, I can be pretty pedantic about a lot of language issues, but people like that I would be tempted to bludgeon with a copy of Fowler's...

The short version is that when one is talking about writing contemporary prose - particularly dialogue, which is the main place I would expect it to come up - one should write the language as people use it, not as is absolutely correct. Do these people also complain about contractions like "don't" because they should more-properly be "do not"? People say "alright" as one word, therefore it should be written as such in dialogue. Similarly to the way that very very few people use "whom" correctly, therefore it would usually be counter-productive to ensure that all of your dialogue lines contain only the correct usage.

Unless you're writing dialogue for the aforementioned bludgeonees, anyway.

[Cazel]

I personally would have used alright in both of Samu-kun's examples. In both cases, the meaning of alright has nothing to do with everything being right/fine/good, etc. but in fact is just being used as an exclamation of agreement. I would reserve 'all right' for situations where I was actually using it as an adverb. ("Today is a great day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and everything is going all right.")

[papillon]

I generally fall into "never write alright" but at the same time, I won't freak out and denounce your horrible grammar if you do. It doesn't flag as a big mistake to my eyes, it just feels slightly less than perfect.

[Jake]

In both cases, the meaning of alright has nothing to do with everything being right/fine/good, etc. but in fact is just being used as an exclamation of agreement.

Actually, it still means the same thing in both those cases. It's just that colloquial usage quite often sees such terms used when the expansion would seem awkward or overly detailed.

For example:

Ka "Chigara-san, could you pass me the hydro spanner?"
Ch "Everything is fine with that request, Kaito-san. (There is nothing wrong with it; I have no reason to object.) Here it is."

Ka "Since it's Chigara-san's birthday tomorrow, we're all going out to eat cake."
As "All of this plan is right! (This is entirely a good plan; I agree whole-heartedly with every part of it!)"

(The negation ("I don't see anything wrong with it") interpretation is also the reason that 'alright' is usually taken to be a less-commital answer than 'yes'.)

[Cazel]

Well, as I am not an English major I can't really argue. I will say though that I have almost always seen it written as alright, and that Samu-kun's second example with all right looked very strange to me.

[Jake]

Eh, I'm not an English major either, I did Computer Science.

Incidentally, for what it's worth, Fowler's says (to heavily edit the source-laden entry):

"Alright" is the demotic form. It is preferred by popular sources and hardly ever by writers of standing. It is commonplace in private correspondence, especially that of the moderately-educated young. Almost all other printed works in Britain and beyond use the traditional form.

There were a load of references in there as well, but hey, I'm not typing all those out. And for our non-native audience, "demotic" means "popular; common [speech]; colloquial". Literally, "of the people".

And if it means anything, the entire entry was about the form 'Alright', but Fowler's refused to put this under the heading 'Alright', which instead read "See ALL RIGHT".