Alright vs All right in fiction

[starrystorm]

When my editor went through my book she marked to change every alright with all right instead.

I don't which one to use for fiction. Google tells me alright is informal and all right is for edited work. Is fiction informal or formal?

Also, does it change in USA vs British English because my editor is British but I told her I was American and she used that guideline?

 

[Sonsofthepharaohs]

I've received this advice from beta readers in the past too, but I refuse to change 'alright' to 'all right' - REFUSE. It looks stuffy and pedantic, especially in dialogue. I think it is somewhat akin to the decision on whether to use contractions in narrative - I do, because I'm writing in close 3rd POV, so I want voicy narrative. I think 'alright' serves that voice much better.

Other opinions may differ, but I'll die on this hill, lol

 

[Gramps]

Other opinions may differ, but I'll die on this hill, lol

I'll bring the flowers. I agree with alright. I have no idea about US vs UK but since most of my books have sold in the US and as I recall typically seeing its usage here I lean toward alright, if it's alright with you.

 

[ChaseJxyz]

As always, it depends! If your character(s) and/or narrator are stuffy and overly formal, like they don't use contractions or slang or whatever, they'd probably use "all right." But if they speak more colloquially, then "alright" is fine.

Like the manager at the weed store, I'd transcribe his catchphrase as "Alright, alright!" Because "All right, all right!" doesn't feel right for a guy such as him.

 

[Maryn]

You can't go wrong with all right. Nobody is correcting authors' use of all right and changing it to alright.

Some editors--and some readers--are not going to be okay (OK??? ) with alright. It seems to me that the author probably shouldn't incorporate anything that could be off-putting to their readers unless they feel strongly about it, as Sonsofthepharoahs apparently does. (It's her right to consider it stuffy and pedantic, but it's also the readers' right to feel alright is all wrong. And I guarantee some will.)

It's a living language and this is one of the changes happening before our very eyes--but it's not yet complete. By the time the OP is my age, it will be.

Maryn, who has opinions on things

 

[Sonsofthepharaohs]

You can't go wrong with all right. Nobody is correcting authors' use of all right and changing it to alright.

Agree to disagree

Some editors--and some readers--are not going to be okay (OK??? ) with alright. It seems to me that the author probably shouldn't incorporate anything that could be off-putting to their readers unless they feel strongly about it, as Sonsofthepharoahs apparently does. (It's her right to consider it stuffy and pedantic, but it's also the readers' right to feel alright is all wrong. And I guarantee some will.)

I can't ever read 'all right' in my head the same way as 'alright' - maybe it's a British thing, but the two are said differently and one sounds natural and one don't

It's a living language and this is one of the changes happening before our very eyes--but it's not yet complete. By the time the OP is my age, it will be.

Maryn, who has opinions on things

That's ok then - by the time my trilogy (er... 6 books now? yeah, a trilogy of 6 books) is finished, everyone will be alright with alright, lol

 

[Maryn]

If only we could write 'em as fast as we can think 'em, eh?

 

[dickson]

Let’s call the whole thing off!

 

[Sage]

Do people pronounce “alright” differently from “all right”? Like, I get when folks use “a’ight” because it’s pronounced differently from “all right.” That’s an actual contraction. But “all right” is simply “alright” spelled correctly to me, & reading “alright” is about equal to me as reading “alot” instead of “a lot.”

 

[Brigid Barry]

Late to the party but according to Merriam-Webster

Although the spelling alright is more than a century and a half old, 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. Alright is less common than all right but is frequently found in informal writing and fictional dialogue.

As long as it's being used as an adverb or an adjective.

 

[Unimportant]

When my editor went through my book she marked to change every alright with all right instead.

I don't which one to use for fiction. Google tells me alright is informal and all right is for edited work. Is fiction informal or formal?

Also, does it change in USA vs British English because my editor is British but I told her I was American and she used that guideline?

AFAIK it's the same for USA and Brit English: all right is technically correct; alright is informal/slang. Like don't know vs dunno.

So it depends on the circumstances. A first person narrator who's an uneducated teen might well say alright and it would come across as realistic. For a 'voiceless' external narrator describing a furniture suite, alright would be jarring.

I'm a pedantic reader, so 99% of the time alright will have me closing the book and not continuing to read/not buying it. Same for alot.

 

[Fi Webster]

I'm in the midst of editing an urban fantasy novel. I defended my decision to change every "alright" to "all right" by quoting the Merriam-Webster:

Although the spelling alright is more than a century and a half old, 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. Alright is less common than all right but is frequently found in informal writing and fictional dialogue.
​

But after reading this thread, I'm questioning that choice. Because the author of the novel is Canadian and wants all the usage, punctuation, etc., to be British.

 

[Jean P. R. Dubois]

Wheres Matthew McConaughey when you need him! He would sort this out!

Jokes aside, in my opinion, I would think it would be a matter of context. In dialogue, there is a lot more leeway for slang or abbreviated terms, whereas in narration, I think it would depend on the PoV. I would also say listen to your editor if you are being professionally edited by the publisher. This could be a make or break for getting your work published and trying to work with a stubborn author could be a deciding factor whether they will keep you on or not.

It should be a simple "Find and replace" function and not too invasive. I would say at least try it and see how you feel. If it breaks your narrative voice then the editor will also notice it.

 

[Jazz Club]

I can't ever read 'all right' in my head the same way as 'alright' - maybe it's a British thing, but the two are said differently and one sounds natural and one don't

Yeah, they sound different in my head and out loud, too. 'Alright' is often used as a casual greeting. To me, 'All right?' implies a more serious check to see if everything's OK. I'd definitely use alright in dialogue. I'd even use it in narration, but I've been advised by beta readers to quit it I thought it was OK in YA 1st person. Maybe not!

 

[MaeZe]

Ding ding ding, ... class....class....

What point is anyone trying to prove? That Merriam Webster hasn't changed a convention when the rest of the English speaking community has? It's possible.

If a contraction or some other common use word form is part of a character's dialogue then stick to what the character would say.

If we are talking about a convention that has changed or is changing, then by all means push the change if it matters to you. I've argued this with a number of writers on another forum who insisted italics for inner monologue would cause a publisher or agent to pass on your work. I did a lot of searching through style guides and how--to-write books and websites. I came to the conclusion the convention was changing. We write on word processors for the most part not manual typewriters.

I'm fine with anyone who choses to use the older convention and who can make it clear within the text that one is reading inner monologue, but I'm going with italics.

Now I'm going to be the dinosaur here. If it is 'all right', that is how it is written. If it is a contraction of 'there are', it's there're not there's. It's not a hill I plan to die on. But I do think the reflection shines upon the writer.

And as usual, YMMV.

 

[Fi Webster]

MaeZe did a great job of putting a cherry on the top of this thread, but I just ran across a fascinating comment on YouTube underneath a discussion if Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." So humor me by considering this coda:

@dard4642​

1 year ago
Another amazing thing about this entire album is how it has changed the spelling of a word. Before the late '60s, "all right" was two words and only two words. Then, Dylan and The Who changed the word to "Alright" in song titles and that's now become the way the word is spelled. Similarly, Nirvana's "Nevermind" is what most people think of as "never mind." "Nevermind" means "concern" (ex: pay that no nevermind) where "never mind" means "scratch that," "forget it," etc. When we're using websites or certain applications, we will have the option of hitting a button for OK or CANCEL and many websites have thought of clever new words to use to make the experience feel more personal like "Hell Yeah" or "Nahh." I was, very recently, on a FedEx website where I had the option to CONTINUE or NEVERMIND. The second option should have been NEVER MIND but, because of Nirvana (and English's nimbleness) the wrong word has become the right one.

Yes! I've seen the titles of Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" (1965) and the Who's "The Kids Are Alright" (1979) in print a gazillion times.

But oddly enough, those titles influenced me in the other direction, toward thinking "all right" was the correct form for writing. I thought of them as bending spelling in a popular medium, like how a song title can spell "because" as "becuz" or just "cuz."

 

[Sonsofthepharaohs]

MaeZe did a great job of putting a cherry on the top of this thread, but I just ran across a fascinating comment on YouTube underneath a discussion if Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." So humor me by considering this coda:



Yes! I've seen the titles of Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" (1965) and the Who's "The Kids Are Alright" (1979) in print a gazillion times.

But oddly enough, those titles influenced me in the other direction, toward thinking "all right" was the correct form for writing. I thought of them as bending spelling in a popular medium, like how a song title can spell "because" as "becuz" or just "cuz."

I refuse to change 'nevermind' to 'never mind' - REFUSE. This is a hill I'm willing to die on!

Haha, not really. Never mind. Carry on!

 

[Ari Meermans]

A short article worth reading in its entirety: Merriam-Webster's "Words at Play", which asks the question, "All Right or Alright, Which is correct?"

Some people assert that there's a difference in meaning, that "The answers were all right" means that all the answers were correct, and that "The answers were alright" means that the answers were adequate or satisfactory. If you like that distinction you can use it, but the fact is that "The answers were all right" can mean either that the answers were all correct or that they were satisfactory. All right can—and does—do everything that alright does, and it has the added bonus of making your English teacher happy.

Which leads us to this concluding recommendation: use alright if you like it and don't care that it's not the favored form. There's nothing essentially wrong with it. Use all right if you need people to know that you know what's all right—at least according to your English teacher (and a lot of other folks).

I'm in the camp that asserts there is a difference in meaning between the two.

And there's also the fact that we're talking (mostly) about fiction writing in this instance and mostly dialogue, at that. I would suggest using the form that matches your character's manner of speech: informal or formal.

 

[Lil]

To me, alright always looks all wrong. I assume ignorance or carelessness on the part of the author, the editor, and the proofreader. I don't have a problem with aw'right in dialogue if it's right for the speaker. But then, I'm a bit antiquated.

 

[Farnham]

When my editor went through my book she marked to change every alright with all right instead.

I don't which one to use for fiction. Google tells me alright is informal and all right is for edited work. Is fiction informal or formal?

Also, does it change in USA vs British English because my editor is British but I told her I was American and she used that guideline?

Find out your publisher's style guide, and follow those recommendations. Some follow The Chicago Manual of Style, but there are others and some publishers use those. Besides, if your editor wants you to write things a certain way, go with it.