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Here in Australia, people say something like 'you're right' or 'your right' or 'you right', sometimes followed by 'mate' to respond to an apology.

Below is an example circumstance:

  • Ouch!
  • Oops, sorry I stepped on your foot.
  • Your right mate

I tried doing some research, but couldn't find any examples. What does it actually mean?

Many thanks.

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    I'm guessing it's properly spelled as you're right, and it's just a shortened form of you're alright, which is an idiomatic way of saying, "No problem; don't worry about it."
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 12:16
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    Would it be a shortened form of "you are all right". After some letters are removed and add the apostrophes added, should it be written as "you're 'right"?
    – AdrianHHH
    Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 12:55

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I suspect this is related to the Australian expression "She'll be right", which means that whatever is wrong now will be right (or all right) in time.

The expression "She's right" means that the wrong is already right.

So perhaps the expression "You're right" means that the wrong done to you is already right -- or is not considered to be a wrong in the first place. This fits in well with the example given.

The word "mate" is a common -- usually male -- bonding word in Australia, making the apology more a peer-to-peer transaction, and more likely to be accepted.

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