American Heritage says

QUOTE:
Is it all right to use alright? Despite the appearance of alright in the works of such well-known writers as Flannery O’Connor, Langston Hughes, and James Joyce, the merger of all and right has never been accepted as standard. This is peculiar, since similar fusions like already and altogether have never raised any objections. The difference may lie in the fact that already and altogether became single words back in the Middle Ages, whereas alright (at least in its current meaning) has only been around for a little over a century and was called out by language critics as a misspelling. You might think a century would be plenty of time for such an unimposing spelling to gain acceptance as a standard variant, and you will undoubtedly come across alright in magazine and newspaper articles. But if you decide to use alright, especially in formal writing, you run the risk that some of your readers will view it as an error, while others may think you are willfully breaking convention.

"Alright" has also become one of those words that only seems to work in spoken English in a way that just wouldn't work in writing unless in a quote of somebody speaking. It often goes with "then" or by itself to suggest agreement (but non-specifically, it seems) and then to bring the conversation back on course or on its original focus.

For example:

"Alright then, let's have a look at that car you've been telling me about."

or

"Alright, I'll go down to the barn and check for werewolves if you pansies are too afraid."


It can also be used as an exclaimation. I think this went out of favor about 30 years ago, although Quagmire still says it on Family Guy, as in "Alllriiiight! Giggity-giggity!"

QUOTE:
You might think a century would be plenty of time for such an unimposing spelling to gain acceptance as a standard variant, and you will undoubtedly come across alright in magazine and newspaper articles.

This kinda makes the point for 'alright', doesn't it?

QUOTE:
But if you decide to use alright, especially in formal writing, you run the risk that some of your readers will view it as an error, while others may think you are willfully breaking convention.

And this doesn't in any way explain why it shouldn't.

QUOTE:
But if you decide to use alright, especially in formal writing, you run the risk that some of your readers will view it as an error, while others may think you are willfully breaking convention.

That is undeniably a risk. but on the whole, it's one I'd lean towards not caring about.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

QUOTE:
It can also be used as an exclaimation. I think this went out of favor about 30 years ago, although Quagmire still says it on Family Guy, as in "Alllriiiight! Giggity-giggity!"

Don't forget...

"alright, alright, alright."

There was once a Melody Maker cover featuring Supergrass, and the headline was going to read "The Kids Are All Right". I happened to spot it in the art department, and had a ten minute argument with a sub or a designer or someone, about how it should have read "The Kids Are Alright".

His argument: the MM style guide said it should be "all right".

My argument... well, if you know anything at all about pop music, you can probably guess my argument.

I won, but I can't believe it took ten minutes.

I say "alright-ee-then" a lot. Maybe too often.

Actually, alright doesn't bother me as much as alot, because it's just wrong.

Is there a way of getting the phrase, "I shall return... interfrastically," into this thread?

I notice an Irish theme among the cited authors who use "alright", suggesting perhaps that opinions may differ on either side of the Irish Sea on this. Just as "haitch" sounds uneducated in Britain, but is standard in Ireland, even among the most cultured citizens of that highly cultured country.

The woman who works for me says "haitch", it drives me nuts. It's all I can do not to correct her.

"Alright" looks wrong to me, too. But "all right" does as well, for different reasons. So I don't write eaither.

When we're converting a text to US spellings we change any more to anymore, but we don't change all right to alright. This was once queried by a US client but we sent her some definition or other and she was all right (see) with it after we explained.

I say haitch because I have to spell out my surname to people and it has H followed by A and even when I say 'haitch, ay' they still get it wrong, so I might as well not bother, but.

That most impeccable of reference books, The Oxford Guide to English Usage, says of "alright":

QUOTE:
though widely seen in the popular press, remains non-standard, even where the standard spelling is somewhat cumbersome..."

While Eric Partridge says:

QUOTE:
Alright is an incorrect spelling of all right and an illogical form thereof.

He goes on to call "alright" a colloquialism. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage says

QUOTE:
The words should always be written separate; there are no such forms as all-right, allright, or alright, though even the last, if seldom allowed by the compositors to appear in print, is often seen (through confusion with already and altogether in MS

So there you have it. Alright?

TonTon wrote:

QUOTE:
The woman who works for me says "haitch", it drives me nuts. It's all I can do not to correct her.

Why don't you correct her? I'm always correcting my kids about this, which is something of a losing battle as it appears to be what they're taught in school. Bloody educationalists.

Does she say 'horange' as well? That used to really grip my shit when I heard people say it.

The one glaring piece of linguistic cockwittery that I find is creeping into popular parlance is 'would of' instead of 'would've'.

"grip my shit" is possibly better than "boil my piss". Thankyou.

I'm with Jimski, Toro et all on the "alright" thing. "All right" looks all wrong to me too, and suggests to me that everything is great, not that things are fair-to-middling, which is suggested by "alright".

I always and unapologetically use the contracted version.