“Dead right” means absolutely right in British English. It emphasizes correctness and can also be used with “sure” and “safe”. Other phrases for absolute correctness include “spot on” and “darn tootin”. English speakers use various phrases to express agreement, such as “how true” or “you know, you’re right”.
The English idiom “dead right” simply means absolutely right, or undoubtedly right. The addition of the word “dead” to the word “right” is an addition of an emphasizing word, which simply serves to emphasize the idea of correctness. The use of the word “dead” as an absolute can be made in several ways, all of which originated in traditional British English.
In addition to “dead right”, English speakers can also say that someone is “dead on” or even “dead right”. Care must be taken not to confuse these phrases with another idiom, “dead to rights”. If someone says “you rightfully made me die”, it means that the person has been caught in the act of doing something wrong, and there is no doubt as to the person’s fault, and that the person has no “rights” or reasonable excuse with which to justify his action.
In a similar use of the word “dead” as an emphasis word, a native English speaker might ask someone “are you sure?” or say, “I’m absolutely sure of that.” Here, the word “dead” serves as an absolute for the word “sure.” The same idiomatic invention works with the word “safe.”
In other English-speaking societies, the above types of absolute sentences may not be as common as they are in mainstream British English. For example, some American speakers may tend to use other phrases like “totally right,” “totally right,” or “totally right,” rather than “totally right.” Other idioms for this idea include “spot on” and “darn tootin,” which is a more colorful, modern idiom with an allegorical reference to “blowing” a horn.
Some other phrases for the idea of absolute correctness, besides “dead right”, are more elaborate in design. An English speaker might also say “you hit the spot,” to indicate that someone is clearly right about something. Here the allegory is that of carpentry, where a precise hit on a nail with a hammer is essential for driving a nail into the wood.
Even more phrases are commonly used in English to emphatically express agreement with someone. An English speaker who sincerely agrees with someone might say “how right you are” or “how true”. Some might even say “it’s funny because it’s true,” particularly when the original statement had a humorous element. All of these serve the same purpose: to put more emphasis on agreeing, rather than just telling someone, “You’re right.” Other types of chord responses also use specific English phrases, such as the use of “you know, you’re right” along with some inflection, to indicate that the original speaker just brought someone their way of thinking.
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