I'm alright, Jack

{{Short description|British expression}}

{{about|the expression|the film|I'm All Right Jack}}

{{use British English|date=November 2024}}

{{use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}

"I'm all right, Jack" is a British expression used to describe people who act only in their own best interests, even if providing assistance to others would take minimal to no effort on their part.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/thatcher-blamed-for-lack-of-respect-in-classrooms-6103886.html|title=Thatcher blamed for lack of respect in classrooms|author=Sarah Cassidy and Richard Garner|date=2006-04-12|work=The Independent}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/03/high-status-high-income-britains-new-working-class|title=High status, high income: this is Britain's new working class|author=Lynsey Hanley|date=2016-07-03|work=The Guardian}} It carries a negative connotation, and is rarely used to describe the person saying it.

The phrase is believed to have originated among Royal Navy sailors; when a ladder was slung over the side of a ship, the last sailor to climb on board would say, "I'm all right Jack; pull up the ladder."{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcatc00eric |title=A dictionary of catch phrases, American and British, from the sixteenth century to the present day |author=Paul Beale, Eric Partridge |year=1992 |page=94 |publisher=Scarborough House |isbn=978-0-8128-8536-1 }} The latter half of the phrase, typically used as "pulling up the ladder behind oneself", has been used to call out unfairness and hypocrisy on the part of those who are seen to have benefited from opportunities handed out to them, only to deny such opportunities to others. Latterly, this has become associated with describing the general behaviour of the baby boomer generation. {{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/women-leaders-urged-against-pulling-up-the-ladder-after-they-climb-20160527-gp5ont.html |title=Women leaders urged against pulling up the ladder after they climb |author=Anna Patty |date=2016-05-27 |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/28/cant-let-rich-pull-ladder-behind-says-nobel-prize-winner-sir/ |title='We can't let the rich pull up the ladder behind them', says Nobel prize winner Sir Angus Deaton |author=Russell Lynch |date=2021-02-28 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/10/05/romneys-pulling-up-the-ladder-behind-him/ |title=Romney's 'pulling up the ladder behind him' |author=Ezra Klein |date=2012-10-05| newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/11/finance-minister-grant-robertson-on-the-perfect-storm-that-s-seen-house-prices-soar-in-new-zealand.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116170717/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/11/finance-minister-grant-robertson-on-the-perfect-storm-that-s-seen-house-prices-soar-in-new-zealand.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 16, 2020 |title=Finance Minister Grant Robertson on the 'perfect storm' that's seen house prices soar in New Zealand |author=Zane Small |date=2020-11-12 |publisher=Newshub }}

The expression was used in the title of the 1959 comedy film I'm All Right Jack. It appears in the lyrics of the 1973 Pink Floyd song "Money", the 1978 Tom Robinson Band song of the same name, and is also the name of a 2019 song by UB40 which satirises people who do not care about the less fortunate.See the UB40 album For the Many.