When did "Alright?" become a greeting in UK English?
I've been living out of the UK for 8 years and was baffled when I returned recently to find shop assistants asking me if I was alright. Oddly in a northern accent, even here in the south - "Ya alright?" The first time this happened I answered,"I'm fine" and they turned away and served someone else - so that's not the right answer! I never heard it when I used to live in UK and still have no idea how to respond. I assumed it was a northern expression popularized by soaps such as Coronation Street.
Alright or all right (UK, informal) Generic greeting. "All right" apparently comes from a question (i.e. "are you all right?", "are things all right?") so it seems like more of a synonym for how are you. Then again, a response is often not expected. –
All right used as a greeting: ‘hello’, ‘how are you?’ appears to have a quite old origin. OED cites a usage as early as 1868:
- 1868 D. M. Mulock in Good Words June 335/2 William's first greeting at his own door was always his wife's face... ‘All right, my darling?’
- 1943 R. Sullivan Dark Continent v. 41 ‘Awright, pal!’ the bartender called to him. ‘What'll it be?’
- 1989 Financial Times 20 May (Weekend Suppl.) p. xxiii/1 She looked this imposing gentleman straight in the eye..and said: ‘Alright, mate?’
- 2004 C. Bateman Driving Big Davie xii. 117 He came up, smiling. ‘All right? I was looking for you.’
From (www.effingpot.com/slang)
- All right? - This is used a lot around London and the south to mean, "Hello, how are you"? You would say it to a complete stranger or someone you knew. The normal response would be for them to say "All right"? back to you. It is said as a question. Sometimes it might get expanded to "all right mate"? Mostly used by blue collar workers but also common among younger people.
A note on British vs American usage:
Alright, mate:
- This affectionate phrase can leave some Americans feeling slightly paranoid, as they might perceive alright, mate! to be a question, rather than a casual greeting. In other words, saying alright, mate! to an American tourist might lead them to think you're asking them if they're feeling okay. Oddly enough, the American equivalent of this phrase is what's up, dude!, which conversely leaves us Brits feeling paranoid for much the same reason. Alright, mate! = what's up, dude!