right away, right off: Common and undesirable colloquialisms for “at once,” “instantly.”
right back, to be: An unwarranted colloquialism for “to be here (or there) again in a moment.”
right man in the right place, the: It is claimed by some persons that it is impossible for the right man to be in the wrong place, or the wrong man in the right place—the result being in either case that right, or the thing desired, would not prevail. But the reverse, the exact thing not desired or the wrong, may be that which ensues—Why? Possibly because the man who was the very man to bring the transaction to a successful issue was wrongly placed, or because the thing desired, which could easily have been achieved with a certain man or type of man to do it was attempted by a less efficient man—good perhaps for some things but not for that particular work. The poor fellows who rode so gallantly to death at Balaklava were the right fellows for the work in hand, but at that fatal moment were forced into a wrong place. The phrase expresses a felt meaning and is good, as is acknowledged when, in terms of pride and satisfaction, we refer to “the man behind the gun.”
rights and privileges: To be used with discrimination. A privilege is “something peculiar to one or some as distinguished from others; a prerogative”; so that the term is to be employed relatively. “The rights and privileges of the people,” as often used absolutely in political platforms, demagogical speeches, and radical newspapers, is incorrect, since the people in this sense can have no privileges, i. e., “things peculiar to individuals.” Milton’s use is correct when he says “We do not mean to destroy all the people’s rights and privileges,” since he is speaking of the people relatively, as distinguished from the magistrates and the king.—Standard Dictionary.
rise: Some lexicographers claim a distinction in the pronunciation of the word rise as a noun and rise as a verb, making the noun rhyme with “rice” and the verb rhyme with “prize,” but common usage sanctions only one pronunciation, that rhyming with “prize.”
roast: A slang term used occasionally by journalists and members of the theatrical profession as an equivalent for “banter” or “ridicule,” as in a press notice.
rooster: A word often incorrectly restricted in its meaning. This is due in a measure to usage as recorded by lexicographers. If a roost is a perch upon which fowls rest at night, then a rooster is any fowl which perches on a roost, be it cock or hen. But the domestic fowl is not the only bird that roosts, therefore any bird that does so, be it what it may, is as much a rooster as the male or female domestic fowl.
rope in, to: A colloquialism for “to cause to participate in” or in a bad sense “to swindle.” In the latter sense it is used especially when the intention is to induce a person to invest in a scheme that is known beforehand to be of questionable worth.
rubber should not be used as a synonym for “crane”; nor rubber-necking for “craning the neck.” These terms are slang which have been derived from rubber-neck, a playful expression said to be current among the children of Nova Scotia and used by them on April 1st instead of the more common “April fool.”