The people who have the most fun with words are writers of the comics. Today Stephan Pastis, writer/illustrator of “Pearls Before Swine” toyed with the one-l/two-ll syndrome. Someone criticized him for using “alright” in his strip. “Is the poor guy alright?” asked Mouse. “Hey, don't criticize him, alright?” replied Stephan. To which Pig asked, “Alright, alright. What’s going on here?”
Purists (ugh!) claim the phrase needs two l’s (all right). Yet, users keep on using just one l. Who’s right? What’s going on here?”
4 comments:
Ah, I write alright and then my master calls from his grave and I revert to all right. That never looks right, so I write alright and the dreaded red warning line strikes underneath. I choose to ignore and continue along the path of alright. It's a word, it has a function so why not use it? :D
Watch your language!Literal(l)y! Sometimes we all need a little L in our lives. Rock on!!!
My professor of Modern English Grammar explains that when a word spelling gets changed by a group of speakers, often the "misspelling" changes meaning so that both become acceptable usage and both stick around because they serve two different functions. "All right" meaning "not in the least bit wrong" versus "Alright" as in "okay" or even "great." "Are you sure you got the grammar in your thesis all right?" Or, "Dude, that guy playin' the guitar is alright!"
I agree with your professor. But our last sentence may read better with the "all right". OR: "Alright, Dude, that guy playin' the guitar is all right."
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