Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an attractive person, usu. a young woman.

c.1895		Violet Nelson ‘The English Toff’ 🎵 Though each foreigner at him likes to scoff, / He’s a bit of all right, is our English toff.
1898		J.D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 109: A nice little bit of orlright, ain’t she?
1904		G.V. Hobart Jim Hickey 61: Then they both embraced their ‘angel,’ and declared him to be ‘the biggest little bit of all right they'd ever met!’.
1908		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Penny Numbers’ Sporting Times 11 July 1/3: I happened to scan [...] A young woman, your worship, as fair to the sight / As—I’m not a descriptive reporter / But the gal was a nice little ‘bit of all right’.
1914		Joyce ‘Two Gallants’ Dubliners (1956) 50: ‘She was ... a bit of all right,’ he said regretfully.
1913		Sport (Adelaide) 15 Mar. 12/3: They Say [...] That Dob, with his flash boots and bell botts, caught a ‘little bit of orlright’ the other night.
1916		G. Jennings Poached Eggs and Pearls (1917) 15: george: That lady what’s waiting on us is a bit of all right, too. bill: Ah! she’s a one-er, she is.
1918		‘Sapper’ Human Touch 278: Lumme! ain’t ’e a bit of orl rite?
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 207: He was a fine fellow, an Englishman, and to use an English expression in describing him, I’ll say he was ‘a bit of all right’.
1930		J.P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl 234: His first name is Teddy [...] Nice, ain’t it? Sounds a little bit of all right.
1940		H. Drake-Brockman Hot Gold I i: Bit of all right, she is.
1947		A.C. Wann ‘Growing up in Chad Street’ in Lehmann Penguin New Writing No. 30 113: She certainly was a bit of all right.
1952		John Bingham My Name is Michael Sibley (2000) 85: Yes, this girl’s a bit of all right, old man.
1957		D. Niland Call Me When the Cross Turns Over (1958) 69: The sheila had him in her sights because she thought he was a bit of all right.
1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 28: Is she a bit of all right?
1971		T. Lewis Plender [ebook] ‘I mean, she’s a bit of all right, is old Kate. Sorry to see her go’.
1976		R. Price Blood Brothers 5: That girl was a bit all right though.
1981		A. Weller Day of the Dog 17: She’s a bit of all right, isn’t she, Doug?
1991		F. Mac Anna Last of the High Kings 91: ‘The Yank’s a bit of all right,’ Hopper said. ‘Tell us, are ye burying the baldy fella then?’.
1999		D. Lypchuk ‘A dirty little story’ in eye mag. 8 July 🌐 She thought he was a bit of all right, a bitch magnet, a real hootchie freak daddy flyboy rack smasher, but now she felt herself dreaming of putting him on a tight leash.

2. in abstract use, anything good and advantageous, e.g., a pleasant surprise, an enjoyable experience; also in ironic use (see cite 1928).

1891		A. Chevalier Limelight Lays 78: Got fined, because I fell! – That’s a bit of ‘orlright,’ ain’ it?
1895		Era (London) 26 Jan. 31/2: Tom Harlow’s Three-headed Nondescript and Eccentric Act. Great Success [...] This is a little bit of all right.
1898		W. Pett Ridge Mord Em’ly 219: He took from his pocket, and showed her furtively, several £5 notes, and demanded to know whether that was not a little bit of all-right?
1904		‘G.B. Lancaster’ Sons O’ Men 188: My word, it’s jest a little bit o’ all right.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 24 Jan. 10/7: This old world would be a bit of orlright if God Almighty had sent a few more of the Ada Crossley brand.
1914		‘Bartimeus’ ‘The Argonauts’ in Naval Occasions 35: Isn’t this a bit of all-right ! / Oh, isn’t this a bit of all-right!
1916		J.N. Hall Kitchener’s Mob 98: Tommy Atkins [...] enjoyed giving Fritz ‘a little bit of all right.’.
1919		J. Buchan Mr Standfast (1930) 626: ‘That sounds a bit of all right,’ he said. ‘The old man ’e won’t be back for ’alf an hour, nor the sergeant neither. Let’s see your quid though.’.
1928		W. Wynne [perf. Wish Wynne] ‘’Er Upstairs’ 🎵 And she had the blinkin’ sauce to say to me the other night / That she ’oped I got it [i.e. a garment] ’onestly, ain’t that a bit of alright?
1929		J.B. Priestley Good Companions 345: Nah, that’s a bit of all right, Mrs. Cullin.
1938		L. Ortzen Down Donkey Row 75: ‘Oh boy,’ chuckled Perks. ‘This is a bit of all right, eh?’.
1941		F. Sargeson ‘That Summer’ in Coll. Stories (1965) 175: So that was a bit of real All Right.
1941		Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 3 May 7/2: Tim Ficklin is doing a bit of all right with his St Moritz ballroom.
1943		R. Llewellyn None But the Lonely Heart 65: Putting the morning fag on was a bit of all right.
1954		J.E. Macdonnell Jim Brady 221: ‘Bit of bloody all right, eh, Jim?’ said Amos solemnly.
1959		G. Hamilton Summer Glare 163: Henney must be doing a bit of all right for himself.
1960		A. Burgess Right to an Answer (1978) 98: [of food] ‘This,’ said Imogen, ‘is a bit of all bloody right’.
1968		D. O’Grady A Bottle of Sandwiches 93: Sounds a bit of all-bloody-right. Haven’t had a feed of crays for weeks.

3. of objects.

1900		Hants Teleg. 21 Apr. 11/3: They comes down with the rhino [i.e. cash]; it’s colour mostly white, / Which [...] as you an’ I know’s a little bit of all right .
1914		E. Pugh Cockney At Home 167: And take my tip, cully, the beer is a bit of all right.
1915		Aberdeen Eve. Exp. 21 Sept. 2/1: ‘A Little Bit of All Right’ Are our New Fall Fashions for Men.
1921		Wodehouse Indiscretions of Archie (2007) 26: Giving it as his considered opinion that the Hotel Cosmopolis on closer inspection appeared to be a good egg, one of the best and brightest, and a bit of all right.
1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 51: His first experience with raisin jack [...] was too long ago to remember what it tasted like. But this stuff was a little bit of all right.