Talk:right

Interjection

What about: "That's it, right?"

Right! Yeah right!

What is its function in:

right behind the traffic lights.

"Right yeah right", depends on how it is said, it could mean "yes correct" or "yes, whatever i dont care".

"right behind the traffic lights" means "its there next to or exactly behind the traffic lights"

- I dont know how to exaclty define it, but I hope it easier to understand the ways I have put it. -fonzy

-I'd say in right behind, right beside, etc. a synonym for right would be immediately of directly. In Dutch: vlak, meteen, direct.

-For "yeah right" (and "sure") isn't the "whatever" meaning just an example of irony? Maybe it should be described because it's used so often.

InfoSlave 10:21 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

I know what it means and how to translate it, I wasn't sure about the grammatical function though. Is it an adverb in 'right after I manage to get this job done'? Or an adjective? Something else? Thanks Polyglot 11:03 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

• • • Where did the ===Interjection=== section go? This is certainly an interjection with or without the "yeah." The same level of sarcasm is conveyed by tone of voice. But "yeah" is certainly optional. --Connel MacKenzie T C 20:29, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I would include right as an interjection with the function of changing the subject matter under discussion. It is certainly taught as such to students of business English for meetings and presentations. It is a signpost interjection along with So. and Now. Algrif 21:19, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

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I want to add some antonyms, such as "privilege" (antonym to "right (n), legal entitlement") or "topple" (antonym to "right (v), to set straight"). There doesn't seem to be a good way to indicate in the Antonym section that these belong to definitions in the Noun and Verb sections, rather than the Adjective section. How should this kind of thing be formatted? Bob Jonkman

Hi Bob, welcome.

You would add antonyms on level 4 like translations or synonyms and you would have as many sections as there are antonyms for the different parts of speech.

===Noun===

'''right'''

# Something one is legally entitled to

# The right side

# (''Politics'') The [[ensemble]] of right-wing [[political]] parties; political [[conservatives]] as a group.

====Antonym====

*[[privilege]] (1)

whether this really is an antonym, I don't know. But that's the way to do it. Polyglot 08:52, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC)

From RFC

"From: WT:RFC"

Missing Interjection.

Multiple Etymology layout is good, interesting and coherent, but not what we do here at en.Wiktionary.

--Connel MacKenzie T C 20:34, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Two of the etymologies are essentially the same, but it looks like one meaning of the word has an entirely different history, and really needs its own etymology. Wiktionary is supposed to be flexible. Dfeuer 07:12, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Continuing my last comment, please refer to Wiktionary:Entry_layout_explained#Homographs.Dfeuer 07:24, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

It is interesting now, to see what Wiktionary used to be like, back when multiple etymologies were restricted to words of vastly different origin. It is kindof funny how things have worked out, now. I can't say I'm happy with the resulting layout for multiple etymologies (let alone, dividing the entry definitions all over the place, by part-of-speech.) Water under the bridge, I suppose. --Connel MacKenzie 21:38, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

From RFC 2

Absurd format, ridiculous (multiple) folk etyms. --Connel MacKenzie 08:58, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I've cleaned up what's there – someone will need to add the adverb at some point. (btw, what folk etyms? They look good to me) Widsith 09:32, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Adverb = very. Colloquial?

I was considering right = very (or perhaps very, very) but I suspect this usage is only found in northern UK dialect. E.g.

1. He works right hard in the factory.

   Then there was a right big argument.

   I made a right stupid mistake there, didn't I?

and so on. Would this pass CFI? Algrif 21:12, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

It's virtually unknown in the US. I don't thinnk I would have heard of it if I hadn't grown up watching a lot of British television. I would expect this to pass CFI, particularly if people went looking for quotations (altought finding this particular sense amidst all the other possible uses could be challenging). --EncycloPetey 21:28, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree. I read it/heard it in w:A Clockwork Orange, but never before nor since. Seems to be reasonable, with the {{UK}} tag (or similar.) --Connel MacKenzie 21:34, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

His Judgment cometh, and that right soon. (w:Shawshank Redemption) Maybe archaic-only in US? Cynewulf 22:50, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

I've definitely encountered "right" as an adverb in this sense, but it definitely sounds odd to me; I'm not sure if it's archaic here (in the U.S.), or dialectic (maybe Southern rural?), or if I'm mainly familiar with it from British works, or what. —Ruakh_TALK 16:16, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Right! I'll get right onto it right now and right quickly. I'll make sure it's in the right place,too. Algrif 11:44, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's certainly current in the UK. I recently heard the phrase "right bloody bastard" on a re-run of a Coupling episode. --EncycloPetey 16:23, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation

Can it be that I heard it pronounced /reɪt/? It was an American movie, if it helps. Ferike333 19:46, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

In some Southern US pronunciations, this word's pronunciation approaches that of [[rat]]. - -sche (discuss) 06:05, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Interestingly, it can be where I live (Western Canada) only(!) the first definition of the adverb section under the second etymology is pronounced that way, and every other definition has the standard pronunciation. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 02:07, 11 July 2015 (UTC)

rate and reet can be Geordie pronunciations as well as Yorkshire, in much of Northern England and the East Midlands it can be at least partially monophthongised to something like rat or rot much like in the American South (it’s especially true that you’ll hear rat in Hull). In the West Country, Birmingham and the Black Country it’s often roit, it’s often ‘roi’’ in Dublin and it can come across as ruh-eet in Wales and even ruh-ee’ in the Cardiff area. I’ve also heard some Americans say rate, though I’m not sure where exactly they do that. Perhaps we should leave the pronunciations as they are before the entry gets too cluttered though. Overlordnat1 (talk) 18:16, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

From the Tea Room

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Is there a difference between the adjective sense of Etymology 1 "To a great extent or degree: I am right glad, the Right Honorable" and the adverb sense of Etymology 2 "Very, extremely, quite: I made a right stupid mistake". Is the first really an adjective, or is it an adverb? Can we be sure it's etymologically distinct from the second, the adverb? (I was right surprised to see that the first was called archaic, by the way. As has been said on the talk page, even in the US it's dated and dialectal at worst, but still broadly familiar.) - -sche (discuss) 03:42, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Are any of the adverb senses under Etymology 2 really from that etymology, rather than from Etymology 1? - -sche (discuss) 03:43, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

As to first set of questions, I think right (“to a great degree or extent”) is an adverb. Unlike some degree adverbs, it does not have a corresponding adjective sense, AFAIK.

As to separate etymology question, I don't think so. BTW, apparently the OE verb rihtan (ety 2) is itself from the OE adjective riht (ety 1). DCDuring TALK 14:46, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Stray Comment

I made an edit to remove a stray HTML comment that was cutting off the end of the article. I am unsure if the comment was intended or not. I closed the comment at the end of the line, which looks correct. Jorgon (talk) 13:40, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

New usage as interjection or intensifier

It seems to me that there's a new usage of "right" as an interjection, expressing agreement in a different way than has been listed here. Specifically, it's used with the intonation of a question. I think it started with the phrase "I know, right?" which was then shortened to just "Right?" It reminds me of the usage of the particle ね at the end of Japanese sentences, in that it's intoned as a question, but not actually meant as one. I'd say this is extremely colloquial, but I've just heard an announcer on NPR use it in an interview, which makes me think it's hit a certain level of acceptability.

Most right and rightmost

Would it be just as correct to speak of the "most right side of the page" as it would be to speak of the "rightmost side of the page"? My feeling is that the answer is yes. Some people have a problem with "rightest". "The Independent" speaks of the "most far-right countries in Europe". If we say it that way, then it could also be "the most right countries in Europe" or "the rightmost countries in Europe", but not "the rightest countries in Europe", you would think. 75.165.105.167 13:19, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

• "rightmost" is used to refer to physical location. "most right" only ever with the political meaning. SemperBlotto (talk) 14:03, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Remember, though, that the political spectrum actually refers to the physical left and the physical right, when French politicians sat to the left or to the right of the chair of the parliamentary president. And here's a place in Wikipedia that says "righter" and "rightest" are at least not required or maybe incorrect, depending on how you read it. "New York Times" article states that "more right" and "most right" are preferred to "righter" and "wronger". It doesn't elaborate, so I don't know if that applies across the board to every definition of "right" or not. This book (see areas highlighted in yellow) uses both forms of both the superlative and the comparative in the same sentence, apparently for emphasis. A search in cambridge.org turns up no results for "rightest", although it has "brightest", "lightest", etc. The expression "You couldn't be more right" is very common.

The Anglican Church uses the phrase the "Most Reverend and Right Honourable" so-and-so. It is not clear to me whether or not the adverb "most" is modifying "right" or not in this case, but it certainly might be. In this case, "right" is an adverb that is modifying "honourable", but I wonder if even then, "most" could be modifying "right" as well.

Let us remember that "righter" can also be a "righter of wrongs". Maybe this is one reason why some people prefer to keep that as something separate. 75.165.105.167 14:51, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

In the phrase "Most Reverend and Right Honourable", "Most Reverend" and "Right Honourable" are separate, and right is approximately synonymous with quite or definitely, and your other examples also have different senses than what you're talking about above, which is a direction- and you can't do that with directions in standard English: up, down, left, right, north, south, east, west, front, back, in, out, before, after. I think it has to do with with directions being absolutes that don't have quantity or degree. "Most right" would be parallel to "most up" or "most before", which are equally strange. Chuck Entz (talk) 05:17, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

I agree with you that the two phrases "Most Reverend" and "Right Honourable" are separate, now that I've given it some thought. With "up", remember that we have "upmost" and with "before" we have "first". For degrees of "up", I guess one could use "superior". We get so used to using "superior" in other senses than degrees of up.

Changing the subject a little, in the simple English version of Wiktionary, it has "most right", but over here it doesn't. When you look at the definition for "rightest", though -- although this might not refer to degrees of being physically right -- it gives the definition "most right". I take that to mean that both forms are correct, according to Wiktionary, and that would agree with the book I cited where both forms were used in the same sentence, apparently to emphasise a point. It was written in 1897. There's one case, only one case, of "rightest" in the Douay-Rheims Bible, so I lean strongly toward saying that is a very acceptable word. It was apparently used in the sense of "most correct", not "farthest to the right".

People who say there are not degrees of being right are mistaken. 9 and 11 are definitely closer to 10 than 8, 7, etc. If being closest to 10 is rightest, excluding the number 10, then 9 and 11 are the rightest and 8 is righter than 7.

Another thing I'm wondering about is if "rightmost" is the only way to express the idea of being farthest to the right. It doesn't prohibit using "most right", but when you look at the definition of "rightmost", it does not mention "most right". So now I'm wondering why people say "the most far-right countries of Europe" instead of "the rightmost countries of Europe". They could even capitalise "Rightmost" to make it clear they are referring to the political spectrum. I've never seen it in my life, but I can't think of a single reason why that can't be done. Some people capitalise "Right-wing" as well.

The suffix -most isn't exactly the same as most. It seems to function as a way to provide a superlative to classes of adjectives that can't otherwise have them, such as directions. It seems to be equivalent to "farther to the...". As for capitalizing the political sense of right, most people won't be aware of the distinction, so it will just seem like arbitrary capitalization for no reason. Chuck Entz (talk) 18:48, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Wiktionary has a definition for "leftest". I would never use that word, I would just use "leftmost'. "Leftest" is a word you don't see very often. 97.126.94.240 08:31, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Wiktionary aims to have a definition for everything that meets its Criteria for inclusion, whether you or I would ever use it. Chuck Entz (talk) 18:48, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

To me, "the most right side" (or edge, etc.) suggests that there are several sides, and we are talking about the side that is further to the right than the other sides. That's different from "the rightmost edge" which is just part of one single edge. Can't explain why but am a native speaker. Equinox ◑ 17:57, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

"Most right" also generally sounds a bit unnatural when you can say "furthest to the right". Equinox ◑ 17:58, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Interestingly, the Douay-Rheims Bible uses "most right" in at least two places and "rightest" once, so both appear to be acceptable. That's an old Bible, too, which is a comforting fact. I like relying on history in this as much as possible. In both cases, it is referring to "most correct". Maybe there's something about the context that affects which word the author would have wanted to use, but that's just speculation. "Rightmost" might be a more recent invention, because a search through various versions of the Bible on biblehub.net turns up no results for that particular word. 97.126.94.240 12:43, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Language changes. If no one is aware of a historical meaning or connotation, they won't understand what you meant to say. If you said something in another language, people would at least know you're using words/senses they don't know. When you use words in their own language that mean something today, they won't know to look them up to find obsolete senses- they'll just assume you're talking strangely or misinterpret what you say.

By the way: please use the Show preview button to check your edit and make changes, then click Publish changes when you're satisfied with it. You're cluttering up the edit history with dozens of minor changes- not to mention making it look like you don't know what you're doing. It's okay to make a correction or two, but dozens is a bit much. Thanks! Chuck Entz (talk) 18:48, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

Are you referring to the expression "words most right"? It's unusual to reverse the order that way nowadays, although sometimes people do that with "central". For example, "Google central" might be Google's headquarters. Given, a lot of people don't know how to use English that way. 97.126.79.153 01:29, 14 May 2017 (UTC)

RFC discussion: June 2015

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for cleanup (permalink).

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right

This entry has a "Request for cleanup" on grounds of "re-split by etym" dating from September 2011, which seems a long time for such a basic word. There does not seem to have ever been a discussion about this (I finally located the original entry here). Ideally this should be attended to. I would be tempted to put everything under one etymology. Is that a good idea? 81.132.196.225 00:17, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

There has been discussion of a similar case in which some definitions seem to from an Old English verb and some from a cognate Old English noun or adjective. There are a significant number of basic English words with this characteristic. Some favor combining, some favor a split. Some entries seem to be easy to split, others not so much. I would recommend registering and earning whitelist status by working on less controversial entries. DCDuring TALK 02:08, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

It's not important that I do it. I think the main point is that a 3 1/2 year-old cleanup tag on a very common word probably should either be addressed or removed. 81.132.196.225 02:41, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

I think that the main point is that there is a larger disagreement that prevents this from being resolved without risk of edit war. DCDuring TALK 14:17, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

What/Where is the larger disagreement? It would be useful to point the link at right to that discussion. 109.153.244.129 00:19, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

The discussion at Wiktionary:Tea_room#prick is of the same issue for a different word, illustrating the disagreement. DCDuring TALK 14:07, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

RFC discussion: September 2011–January 2018

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right

The English definitions are, I strongly suspect, incorrectly split by etymology.​—msh210℠ (talk) 18:28, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

• Leasnam (talk • contribs), among others, did a lot of cleanup work, and then I tidied up the quotes. Looks good now --Gente como tú (talk) 10:53, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July–August 2019

This entry has survived Wiktionary's verification process (permalink).

Please do not re-nominate for verification without comprehensive reasons for doing so.

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right

Rfv-sense: The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc. This sense is in Webster's 1913 but I don't really get what it supposed to be got at here. That's my only concern about the entry, which is now looking un-1913ish enough. --I learned some phrases (talk) 22:07, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Don't you know which side your bread is buttered on? The right side, of course. DCDuring (talk) 22:21, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

This is about a sense of the noun right. Does your bread always fall on the right?  --Lambiam 23:52, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I don't see usage examples in Century 1911 or Webster 1913. There is a corresponding adjective sense, which would look like a noun in a "fused-head construction", beloved of CGEL (2002). Does the OED have a noun sense? DCDuring (talk) 22:49, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I skimmed the OED's long entry and couldn't find one, but they do have comparable noun senses for other right adjectives, e.g. "A shoe, boot, etc., for the right foot; (also) a glove for the right hand". Equinox ◑ 18:12, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Anyone who has ever followed a sewing pattern knows that you put "right" sides together before stitching. That is the sense this is talking about. Kiwima (talk) 04:55, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

But is it used as a noun? (We have an adjective definition.) DCDuring (talk) 05:01, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

I have added two cites for this sense, but it is very difficult to search for. Kiwima (talk) 20:35, 30 July 2019 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 20:52, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Derived terms from Chambers 1908

• absolute rights: those which belong to human beings as such
• at all rights: in all points
• contingent rights: such as are distinguished from vested rights
• do one right: to do one justice
• have a right: to be under a moral necessity [not how we would use the phrase today!]
• in one's own right: by absolute and personal right
• public rights: the rights which the state has over the subject, and the subject against the state

Equinox ◑ 05:28, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

rightly

What meanings are synonyms of rightly? --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:16, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

that's right

Isn't that's right a variant? --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:14, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

go right

To happen or unfold successfully, correctly, and/or fortuitously. --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:46, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

standalone right as adj meaning conservative

I cant think of a context in which right could stand alone as an adjective and be readily understood as meaning conservative. It seems more like a pun .... "I'm on the right side of history", etc. .... it works as a noun, but then it requires additional words like on the right. Could anyone show me a sentence where right is an adjective and clearly means conservative, not relying on a double meaning? Thanks, —Soap— 07:59, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

What about here[1] (should not only include right-wing organizations, but should be balanced out, left, center, and right.) and here[2]("left-right" issues)? --Overlordnat1 (talk) 09:55, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

i think the second example is using them as nouns, since it's not describing the issues, but rather the people who are concerned with the issues (an issue cannot have opinions, ... even the phrase "left-wing issue" is still an apposition of two nouns). I'd be willing to accept the first phrase, but some people might not .... if the author had written "should not only include right organizations", people might not understand the meaning. It seems that it depends on context to be understood. And, if the first part of the sentence were deleted, the second half standing alone might lead people to interpret them as nouns all over again.

I dont know. To be honest this is one of my least favorite topics, .... you may have seen me say a few months ago that grammar is one of the squishiest of all sciences, that it's a matter of analysis what part of speech something is, and that there can be more than one right answer. When I made this post, though, I could not think of an example of use that was even arguably adjectival, though, so thank you for answering my post and giving me what I'd asked for. I will leave the entries for right and left stand pat, although I did create a page for Left as a proper noun just now and will do likewise for Right when I get around to it. Best regards, —Soap— 11:16, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

right=correct and right=just

The meaning "Complying with justice, correctness, or reason" should be split between "Complying with justice" and "Complying with correctness", these are two completely different meanings, and translations would mix and confuse these meanings. Stroed (talk) 00:16, 19 November 2023 (UTC)