She'll be right
She'll be right (often followed by a friendly term of address such as mate) is a frequently used idiom in Australian and New Zealand culture that expresses the belief that "whatever is wrong will right itself with time", which is considered to be either an optimistic or apathetic outlook.[1]
Background
[edit]The term can also be used to refer to a situation or object which is not perfect but is good enough to fulfil its purpose.[1]
In this usage, "she" represents everything, allowing the phrase to be used both in circumstances of extreme hardship and in casual speech referring to everyday events. Related terms also used with the same meaning include She'll be apples (Australia) and She's good (New Zealand).[2][3]
Modern usages of the term can also have negative connotations, with "a she'll-be-right attitude" referring to a willingness to accept poor solutions, or to be an expression of misplaced optimism and laziness, rather than confidence.[4][5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "She'll Be Right, Mate". New Zealand: Land of the Long White Cloud. Dillon Press. 1990. pp. 19–27. ISBN 9780875184142.
- ^ Partridge, Eric (1986). A dictionary of catch phrases: British and American, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Psychology Press. p. 24.
- ^ Burridge, Kate; Mulder, Jean Gail (1999). English in Australia and New Zealand: an introduction to its history, structure and use. Oxford University Press. p. 47.
- ^ Examples of this are shown in "'She'll be right' won't work in earthquake" (Taranaki Daily News. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012) and "'She'll be right' attitude blamed Archived 2012-07-09 at the Wayback Machine" (Canterbury Star, 4 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012).
- ^ Max Cryer (2018-04-09). "Why have we stopped saying 'she'll be right'?". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2025-01-03.
External links
[edit]
The dictionary definition of she'll be right at Wiktionary
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