Immediately. A phrase possibly imported from the S.W. of Ireland.
1818. I have been slick in going to the stand right away.—H. B. Fearon, ‘Sketches of America,’ p. 5. (N.E.D.)
1818. He ordered me to turn out every coloured man from the store right away.—Id., p. 59. [For fuller quotation see BOSS].
1825. I’d sooner die—die, like a dog—that’s what I would,—right away.—John Neal, ‘Brother Jonathan,’ i. 195.
1825. [They believed the evacuation of New York to be] a genuine Yankee trick, which was to end “right away” in their being roasted alive, or barbecued.—Id., iii. 137.
1850. “Will you be good enough to look after rooms?” “I will.” “Right away?” “Right away,” and as evidence of his sincerity he stretched his legs to set out.—Cornelius Mathews, ‘Moneypenny,’ p. 48 (N.Y.).
1854. If your doctrine is carried out,… I want a dissolution right away.—Mr. Butler of North Carolina, U.S. Senate, March 3: Cong. Globe, p. 323, Appendix.
1889. Their intense fervor to do something right away to humble the haughty enemy, made them utterly unmindful that they must first go to school and learn the art of war from its very beginnings, and right at that point their sorrows began.—J. D. Billings, ‘Hardtack and Coffee,’ p. 210 (Boston). (Italics in the original.)
