Is the expression right on! just an outdated relic of hippie talk, or is it making a comeback? The Journal of American Folklore traces it back to at least 1911, but it gained traction among African-Americans and hippies in the ’60s and ’70s, and now exists as a fairly common term of affirmation. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Right On”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Wendy from Ben Lohman, California.
Hi, Wendy, welcome.
Hey there, what’s up?
So I wanted to talk to you guys about the expression, write on.
I realized lately I had this experience where I said, write on in a situation, and the words kind of just flew out of my mouth, and then I had a kind of quiet horror.
I felt like I’d gone back in a time machine and I should be wearing a tie-dye t-shirt.
Right, with beads and a P symbol and all that?
Exactly, and a fist upraised, you know?
Right.
On.
I went through this kind of linguistic journey where, first of all, I realized that I actually say right on fairly regularly in conversations.
And then I started noticing other people saying it.
Like, Martha, I heard you say it a couple of times on podcasts.
Oh, and I’m wearing a tie-dyed shirt and beads and a little headband here.
What are you smoking?
And I heard my Pilates teacher say it a couple of times.
And then I heard it on a sitcom up all night.
And so I thought that perhaps I wasn’t a walking anachronism after all.
No, no.
So this is a situation where somebody’s doing something and another person to encourage them says, right on.
Or it’s kind of agreement or just shows enthusiasm for what’s happening or what they’ve just done or said.
Yes.
And I also realized that after I kind of got over my initial horror, I realized that when I do, when those words kind of fly out of my mouth, that I’m usually in a very warm-hearted place, that I actually have a lot of affection for those words.
So then I kind of put my research hat on just for a tiny moment, and I looked at Merriam-Webster, and I saw that it was the, I thought that the term probably originated in the late 60s, but actually in the Merriam-Webster it said 1925.
Oh, yeah, it’s a little older than that still, at least back to 1911.
It pops up in the Journal of American Folklore.
Okay, so I thought that you guys would probably have a lot of information about these words that I love.
But it’s definitely marked in American English as either being African American or associated with the 60s and 70s or all three.
Those two decades plus African Americans or a little bit of the kind of hippie movement.
Right on, brother, or kind of the precursor to keep on trucking or keep on keeping on.
But it’s a…
Worst I would never say.
Worst I would never say.
Never?
There’s nothing wrong with right on it.
Maybe, again, a little dated or a little marked as being from another era.
But you’re right.
I hear it everywhere and see it often.
And I don’t think most of the uses are ironic or even self-conscious.
I think it’s just a thing to say, and so it comes out.
Yeah, I don’t know that I’m particularly warm-hearted when I say it.
Maybe.
We were going to talk about your cold, icy heart.
Right on.
Keep on keeping on.
You’re just fine using that, all right?
All right.
Wonderful.
It’s good talking with you.
Okay, rock on.
Okay.
All right.
Bye-bye.
Rock on.
Rock on.
You say that.
Rock on.
I do.
Sure.
You’ve got to encourage people, right?
Rock on.
Email words@waywordradio.org.
