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Commonly Confused

Alright vs. All Right

Is it all right to use both? Do they mean different things? Which one will make your English teacher smile?


Although the spelling alright has been in use for over 200 years, some critics have insisted alright is all wrong. Others maintain that alright and all right have distinct meanings and serve different purposes. Emily Brewster explains.

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play alright allright video
Alright vs. All Right

 

Is 'alright' all right?

play emily brewster and one and the same text graphic
'One in the same' or 'One and the same'?

 

Is it all the same anyway?

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play video soup vs soop
An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play fun funner funnest
Fun, Funner, Funnest

 

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

play contractions
On Contractions of Multiple Words

 

You all would not have guessed some of these

play video websters video of 1864
Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.