Hi,
I’ve read in many dictionaries that “alright” is considered by many people to be incorrect and should not be used. However when I searched in the BNC, “alright” turned out with more results than “all right”.
Have you any ideas about this?
Regards
Nessie
Hi,
Old conservatives like me prefer ‘all right’ but it is becoming more and more common for people to use ‘alright’. This has happened to (all ready) ‘already’ and (all ways) ‘always’.
Alan
Hi Alan,
Thanks for the interesting information about “all ready” => “already” and “all ways” => “always” 
And I don’t think you are conservative at all (when you accept the use of “and” at the beginning of a sentence)
When my father was a child, he was taught to write “to-day” and “to-morrow”, but those have now been merged into single words, “today” and “tomorrow”. These changes happen over time.
The restriction against using “and” or “but” at the beginning of a sentence was mainly contrived for children, so that they would learn to write full sentences instead of fragments. Once we’re adults, we can judiciously begin full sentences with those conjunctions, and good writers have done so for centuries.
Thanks for your idea, Jamie
And another question has arisen in my mind: Is the use of “and” or “but” at the beginning of a sentence acceptable in formal/academic writings?
Many thanks in advance
Nessie.
Yes, if it’s done correctly. The trick is understanding how to do it correctly.
If young, alright’s alright, for many.
Often heard as “awright” in parts of Britain.
In fact, “alright” is recorded from 1893; and so is older than “Mom”, “frankfurter”, “semantic”, and “psychoanalysis”.
MrP
Indeed it may be, but my point was that, mostly, I only hear old/older people complaining about “alright”. And it only pips “semantic” by one year.
What do the young/younger people complain about?
MrP
Mostly, prescriptivists and acne?
But it’s been the older people complaining about that generation after generation.
Age, eh?
People prone to being priggish tend to find more reasons to be still more priggish the older they get. However, I know people in their 20s who’ve got 'em all beat.
Age before beauty, eh? 
Foolishness is never confined to just one generation.
I am sorry but what do you mean, Jamie? 
I meant exactly what I said. Fools exist in all generations.
I think foolishness also exists in every human being. Could anyone see himself/herself free of foolishness? Sometimes foolishness could even be very attractive.
As I said before, you know a person or persons for every occasion, Jamie.