Is That 'Right'?
David Korringa, Class of 2008, Calvin College
Minds in the Making

When raising your hand in class, you might wonder; "Is my answer right?" After giving directions to a friend, the thought immediately crosses your mind: "Did I tell them the right way?" The nagging question remains in the back of everyone's head: "Is that right?" People want to be right.

The word right may seem like just another way to say "correct," but its nuances and its history run deep. Today the most common uses of the word revolve around the idea of correctness, justice, and power: "That is the right answer"; "Do what is right"; "I have the right to do it."

The orginal meanings of the word have much in line with current use. Right started its life as "riht" or "ryht" in Old English around the year 900 A.D. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "right" was first used to show "that which justly accrues or falls to any person; one's due." The word was also used as another term for "law" or "canon," meaning "standard," "straight," or "rule."

Both German and Dutch have similar words to the Old English root of "right." In both of those languages, the word is "recht." Notice how strict it sounds; "recht" seems to carry a sense of strictness with its guttural pronunciation and hard consonant edge. Even in Modern English, in which the guttural sounds have been lost, the word maintains a sense of strictness: "That's not right!"

The word right has also come to take on the meaning of fundamental human values. Everyone wants to have the same rights. People will protest and fight for the rights they think they deserve. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and women's liberation in the 1970s are examples of citizens trying to turn society upside down in order to be granted their rights. The current debate over gay marriage is often framed in terms of rights.

On an international scale, "human rights" are considered intrinsic gifts whose importance transcends cultures and politics. Nations will unite to pressure countries to grant their citizens human rights. "Human rights are the most potent political currency of our time," writes Anne Bayefsky in National Review. "They apply to every global neighborhood."

Perhaps it is this sense of earnestness that has made the word right a useful intensifier in various dialects of English. Speakers use the adverb to clarify that something is immediate and present: "The book is right here" or "I have to go right now." In American Southern dialects of English, the adverb right is used to modify almost anything: "Jim is right smart" or "You talk right fast." This much-derided slang use of the word actually has a long history, as the American Heritage Dictionary points out: "This broader use of right is attested as far back as the 15th century and is found in the works of Shakespeare and other great writers. Thus, what appears to be neglect of Standard English rules is actually the retention of a once-proper historical usage."

Right has remained a strong, sturdy word throughout the centuries. As long as people continue to ask questions about what is right and who has rights, the word will live on.

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