[Ads-l] aight

[Ben Zimmer]

And even earlier, in a very different newsgroup:

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.amiga/c/PLNxRYPno5s/m/gd9xSTzNnhUJ
Jim Burwell, "SoftPC for the Amiga 3000," comp.sys.amiga, Sept. 3, 1990
So just port it, a'ight ? :-)

On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Plenty of examples of "aight"/"a'ight" in the archives of the Usenet
> newsgroup alt.rap, starting with:
>
> ---
> https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rap/c/-9MGfqWKu-g/m/e3E4CuQgzTcJ
> Ronald Johnson, "Whats the 411, hon?", alt.rap, Oct. 20, 1992
> I think Mary J. Blige's 411 is a'ight.
> ---
> https://groups.google.com/g/alt.rap/c/95DIgvWNK1k/m/9Rkp1NbqcqUJ
> K-Mello SGP '92, "Fu Schnickens," alt.rap, Oct. 25, 1992
> But until I hear something else from him and say, "That shit was a'ight",
> I will regard him as being booty, fast as hell, but BOOTY!
> ---
>
> --bgz
>
> On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 10:07 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> 00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
>> The OED has earlier citations as Jesse pointed out, but this citation
>> might be useful because it uses the "aight" spelling. The 1993
>> citations in the OED use the following spellings: "ay-aight" and
>> "I-ight".
>>
>> Date: March 24, 1995
>> Periodical: Scope
>> Article: Letters Build a Bridge: Continents Apart, Students Connect as
>> Pen Pals
>> Author: John Rearick
>> (Note: Letter from Donzetta)
>> Start Page 12, Quote Page 13
>> Publisher: Scholastic Inc., New York
>> Database: Internet Archive
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> This is crazy, but you might like it. Here are a few street words:
>> 1. "chill" means to relax or calm down.
>> 2. "Phat" means something really good or you really like it.
>> 3. "Butta" is the same as phat.
>> 4. "Aight" (All right) means to agree or saying goodbye.
>> 5. "Shorty" means cute when you're talking to a girl.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 7:40 AM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > OED has this, with cites for the adjective from 1993 (in the form "I'm
>> ay-aight"), 1999 ("aight"); and for the interjection 1993 ("I-ight"), 2000
>> ("A-aight").
>> >
>> > <Waiting for Fred to improve on this for the ODAAE>
>> >
>> > Jesse Sheidlower
>> >
>> > On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 07:12:17AM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> > >
>> https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/elliot-page-says-christopher-nolan-071350685.html
>> > >
>> > > [T]he movie was just not very interesting. Whether it was true to the
>> > > source material or not, it was just aight. Nothing new there.
>> > > I've been hearing this in speech, occasionally, for twenty-five
>> years, but
>> > > I've never seen it in print  till now.  Lots in N.
>> > >
>> > > 2002 _Winston-Salem Journal_ (Jan. 7) D-3 [N]: I'll holla at ya,
>> aight?
>> > >
>> > > 2003 _Albuquerque Tribune_ (July 5) (Comics) unp. [N]: Black English
>> > > Month...A'ight. I'm down.
>> > >
>>
>

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