Let's say you were asked where is the book that you borrowed from someone. Then you say:
''It is right by my desk''
What does the right mean in the answer? Does it mean that it is on the desk or in the desk?
P.S: I have already looked into the Cambridge online dictionary, which I mean is that there are numerous variations of the right usage, and it depends on a particular situation.(don't waste your time to go off topic, just stick to this one)
I suppose the dictionary definition of "exactly" that the other answer mentioned sort of works, but in this context, as a native speaker, I'd interpret "right" to mean "near." So if someone told me to get something that was "right by her desk" I'd look for it all around her desk and expect to find it close to the desk.
Edit: As I mentioned in the comments, "by my desk" already means near, so "right" is used as an intensifier. The reason I don't think that "exactly" works very well here is that the meaning of "exactly" is very precise, and the concept of "by" isn't something that can be pinned down with exact precision. However, here are some examples using something that can be pinned down with precision:
It is in the center of my desk.
If you said this to me, I'd expect to see "it" somewhere close to the center of your desk, but I'd look in a fairly big radius.
It is right in the center of my desk.
I would now expect it to be closer to the center of your desk, and I'd look in a smaller radius, but I would accept that there might be some variance from center.
It is exactly in the center of my desk.
If you said this, I'd expect that if I got out a tape measure and measured your desk, I'd find it in the exact center.
It might be helpful to point out that this meaning where right means "exactly" or "almost exactly" is mostly used to intensify expressions that describe location or time. Here is another example, using time, of a way "right" is used to mean "almost exactly." If I arrived three minutes late to a meeting, the following conversation could take place:
Me: Sorry, I'm late.
Other person: No, don't worry about it. You're right on time.
Now, obviously, I wasn't exactly on time. But the other person is saying I was close enough to exactly on time that it doesn't matter. Other people have said my answer is wrong because "right" doesn't mean "near." They have a good point, but I maintain that this sense of "right" is used specifically to intensify closeness (in location or time). For examples, these two sentences mean almost the same thing:
She is right beside me.
She is close beside me.
Will brings up an interesting argument in the comments that "right above" doesn't necessarily mean something is any closer to an object than just "above." However, if you are standing in a room, any ceiling light is "above" you, no matter where it is in the room. If you say it is "right above" you, it means you are standing directly under it. If you measured the distance between you and it, it would certainly be closer to you than it would be if it were across the room!
The word "right" has a lot of meanings and can be used as an adjective, adverb, or noun. But this is how you can interpret it when used to intensify an expression of location or time.
No, it means that the book is exactly by the desk. Neither in nor on.
EDITED: As @J.R has mentioned in the comments below, "the book is exactly by the desk" is NOT idiomatic, it sounds awkward. I have used it just to explain the meaning, how right is used in this context, as an adverb that emphasizes the particle by.
According to Cambridge Dictionary
by preposition (POSITION)
near or at the side of
right adverb (EXACTLY) [used for emphasis]
exactly
In the context of giving directions like this, it seems like right means something like "very" or "directly".
The operative word here is actually by, which in this case means "near" or "near to". Here right is just an intensifier to by.
I would expect by my desk to mean neither "in" nor "on", but "near to". So perhaps on another desk nearby, or on the floor near the speaker's desk.
In other words,
It is right by my desk
is roughly equivalent to
It is very near my desk
We would often use 'right' as intensifier for a location when we want to emphasise the proximity of the thing or person being discussed, particularly to someone who is unaware of it. Someone on the phone: Have you seen John lately? Me: he's right next to me!. My father: have you seen my glasses? Me: They are right in front of you on the table!. Also as a general-purpose intensifier - I was right in the middle of road, he was right at the end of the line. We can also use 'right' as an intensifier when we are talking about location in time - right before, right after.
I would not say 'on the desk' or 'in the desk' is correct, since 'by' is neither 'in' nor 'on'.
This 'right' is really 'directly' （quotes from www.etymonline.com)
Old English rehte, rihte "in a straight or direct manner," from right (adj.1). Right on! as an exclamation of approval first recorded 1925 in African-American vernacular, popularized mid-1960s by Black Panther movement.
Also, a verbal use of right is 'right something = set something straight' :
Old English rihtan "to straighten, rule, set up, set right, amend; guide, govern; restore, replace," from riht (adj.); see right (adj.1). Compare Old Norse retta "to straighten," Old Saxon rihtian, Old Frisian riuchta, German richten, Gothic garaihtjan. Related: Righted; righting.
This right is also related to the 'rect' part of 'direct'
late 14c., from Latin directus "straight," past participle of dirigere "set straight" (see direct (v.)).
Comparing German, I would use 'direkt neben' for 'right by'.
"Right" is a modifier, it emphasises the following word.
As you can see, it doesn't necessarily equate to proximity.
I don't know whether it's useful, or simply switching one idiom for another, but in this type of usage "right" can be replaced by "just"
It is just by the desk.
There is someone just outside the door.
It happened just after that.
This amuses me, because things can be described as "right and just" but they are different meanings to these.
