Common words

In UK it's generally a greeting. A bit of a confusing one. You say alright and the other person says alright back. It isn't a question to be answered - they aren't asking you how you are, just saying hi.

Yes, people here say hello to strangers every day, though I have noticed recently that some people don’t speak. That would have been unheard of when I was growing up. 

Yeah.. you know people were so friendly.

As they walked past the cottage they waved at me.

(⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)

I don’t here alright very often do you say it alot

Perhaps instead of “alright” somebody might have said “bout ye” (what about you) as a greeting. Alternatively, “what’s the craic”.

Ooh I'm getting a hint of NOSTALGIA!!

I stayed in a cottage on the beach in Ardglass in County Down a couple of years ago.

I loved it. I didn't want to come home.

(⁠•⁠‿⁠•⁠)

“Alright” or “All right” is not usually used as a greeting in my part of the world (N. Ireland), but plenty of people ask “Are you all right?”.

I used this word a lot.

It's a greeting, instead of hello, it's are you alright.

It's a bit warmer, sort of asking about their well-being.

I think here in the States it’s really common, though maybe it’s a bit different. We don’t use it as a greeting, more just in the context of “I’m alright”. 

Ava said:

how common is it to hear the word alright being used?

It was very common in Scotland when I grew up around 40-50 years ago.

It was also very common in London as a greeting back from the 1990s when I first moved there.

It looks like its more popular adoption started in the 1970s: https://csidemedia.com/wellpresentedms/is-alright-all-right/

I think it's regional and also based on demographics and situation.

It is very informal and is just a greeting, not a question.

Mostly informally not so much with adults, I remember people saying this a lot when I was a teenager. Its a good method of disguising intent, like a nod of the head, it does not infer class or someones underlying motives. I think I dislike it more as I get older as it can seem monosybalic and lazy. Only occasional use, over use it becomes common. But its all down to context I guess.

I usually hear people using it as a greeting by saying 'you alright?' but I'd say it's probably a 50/50 chance of them saying that or something else. I don't go out much so I probably hear it about once a week from one person. Based on that, it's probably more common than I'm used to.

I guess it can also be used in answer form if someone asks how you are then you can say 'I'm alright'. I don't personally use this word that much though. I prefer to say 'okay'. 

I hope that helps.