I don't usually make the error in my fiction, but I'm glad the issue is brought up. Whenever I re-edit my previous works, I'll have to keep this tip in mind. Thanks.
I don't remember seeing "alright" when I was in school (mid-'60s thru late '70s in the U.S.) or for some time afterward, either in popular writing or fanzines. I don't know what the process is called but I theorize that "alright" started as a misspelling of oral clichés, similar to "alot" (for a lot) and "coz" (for 'cause = because). I really don't believe that writers who use "alright" or "alot" think they have different meanings than "all right" or "a lot."
These days I tend to regard writers who use these spellings where standard English is appropriate as too lazy or poorly educated to run a spell-checker. In fiction writing it may not matter so immediately (& may in fact be an intentional stylistic choice), but in writing for a larger or specialized audience I regard it as a sign that the writer may be similarly sloppy in other respects.
"Alright" has definitely been popping up more and more in recent years.
I don't think "alright" and "alot" can be directly compared, because while "alot" is a straight up misspelling, I have known people who really did think "alright" and "all right" were two different phrases with different meanings. So in that case I do think the confusion there lies with comparing it to words like "although." But it's true that "alright" is probably also just a misspelling by those who don't know better.
The problem with running this specific word through a spellchecker is that not all spellcheckers see it as a misspelling. For example, both WordPerfect and OpenOffice Writer on my computer flag it as wrong, but my Microsoft Word and Firefox spellchecker don't (I've never used "alright" in writing, so I wouldn't have added it to the spellchecker dictionary). So it's not as simple as just running it through a spellchecker.
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These days I tend to regard writers who use these spellings where standard English is appropriate as too lazy or poorly educated to run a spell-checker. In fiction writing it may not matter so immediately (& may in fact be an intentional stylistic choice), but in writing for a larger or specialized audience I regard it as a sign that the writer may be similarly sloppy in other respects.
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I don't think "alright" and "alot" can be directly compared, because while "alot" is a straight up misspelling, I have known people who really did think "alright" and "all right" were two different phrases with different meanings. So in that case I do think the confusion there lies with comparing it to words like "although." But it's true that "alright" is probably also just a misspelling by those who don't know better.
The problem with running this specific word through a spellchecker is that not all spellcheckers see it as a misspelling. For example, both WordPerfect and OpenOffice Writer on my computer flag it as wrong, but my Microsoft Word and Firefox spellchecker don't (I've never used "alright" in writing, so I wouldn't have added it to the spellchecker dictionary). So it's not as simple as just running it through a spellchecker.
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Thanks. :)
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