(no subject)

[phosfate]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THE PHRASE "ALL RIGHT" IS MADE UP OF TWO WORDS! TWO! WORDS!

Comments

[swankyfunk.livejournal.com]

The Alright has to become a fictional beast, like the Alot.

[smolder.livejournal.com]

omG Y u got5 to be a h8ta?

*ducks*

This drives me batshit, but I am glumly accepting that "alright" will eventually become the proper spelling.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!

[twigcollins.livejournal.com]

YES.

The Borders is selling copies of the AP Stylebook for $1.98. I am tempted to buy them and just lob them at people.

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

I share your burning rage over this.

[hawkmoth.livejournal.com]

Marry me.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

VOICE OF DISSENT: not how I say it it isn't.

(To clarify, I think "alright" means "hello" and it seems ridiculously stumbling and clumsy to spell it "all right" in that context).

[greenjudy.livejournal.com]

I tell myself it could always be worse. Then it gets worse.

[anglepoiselamp.livejournal.com]

I often forget that. It's one of my pet peeves with myself. Still, maybe I can get a milder sentence for my crime because English isn't my native language? :P

hehehe

[amanda-now.livejournal.com]

alright all ready! We get it. sheash.

Re: hehehe

[amanda-now.livejournal.com]

I want you to know that the comment above was painful to write.

Re: hehehe

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Thank God. I thought you'd taken a blow to the head.





_{And that's not how you spell "sheesh."}

Re: hehehe

[amanda-now.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I know. I like to lay it on thick.

[fordanglia.livejournal.com]

THIS. ALL RIGHT?

[jume.livejournal.com]

alrighty

[jume.livejournal.com]

but in all seriousness, I like it this way. It no longer makes semantic sense when it is spelled with two words. That's not what the usage is. It has evolved, changed, eloped with all the muthas who "misuse" language in other creative ways.

I'm sorry.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Fascinating.

[crantz.livejournal.com]

This matters. A lot.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Surely you mean "alot." Because that's the only way it makes sense in today's modern, now, a-go-go world.

[afullmargin.livejournal.com]

*begs forgiveness*

Guilty of operating under the influence of poor grammar usage.

Take me away, officer. :)

[kiyakotari.livejournal.com]

I come down on both sides of this argument, depending on the situation.

Grammar, spelling, and popular usage do not always (or often) agree. Descriptive and prescriptive grammar and word forms do not always agree. I am often driven quite mad by the errors I see, but I am also aware that language is constantly evolving, never static, and also that even in a given moment it differs by region. What is inappropriate in one dialect of a language may be completely acceptable in another. Similarly, things that seem wholly unacceptable in written communication may become more so if they are presented in a specific manner - as a component of a quotation, for example, in which dialectical differences can be important, or as a way to illustrate or emphasize variations on speech patterns and nuances of pronunciation.

I do not often write the contracted variation* (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=alright) of the word, but I do use it in speech on occasion. If I were to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to record a statement that contained it, there are situations in which it might be more appropriate to use an alternate spelling, just as there are situations in which I might write "dunno" rather than "do not know" or "gonna" rather than "going to." Like unusual word orders, these are all aspects of speech patterns that can be important in conveying a certain attitude, or can be used to import information about an individual or character. I do not think they should be discounted simply because they do not agree with the prescriptive rules of the English language. If they are being used intentionally, by someone who knows that the words are not prescriptively correct and understands the implications of using them anyway, I do not interpret it the same way I would interpret a usage by someone who simply does not realize that the words are descriptive, not prescriptive, and does not understand the difference.

*Please to not interpret this link as a suggestion on my part that Urban Dictionary is always or often correct.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

In the America, yes. In the UK... erm... not so much?

*flees*