Forum: english.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrases><terminology><colloquialisms>
Title: What does "I know, right?" mean?
Question: Not only is my seventh grader using this phrase, but her teachers are as well.  I suppose it means  I totally agree with you and you totally agree with me  but it sounds like there is a subtle  Is that okay?  at the end with the right part.  What do you think?

Answers:
sents: text: I would say that it doesn't signify is that
text: okay?
text: so much as tell me more.
text: It also suggests empathy in addition to agreement.
text: To me, it seems roughly equivalent to
text: I totally agree with you, you know?
text: In addition to sharing the opinion, it also subtly connotes that both parties arrived at the same conclusion, possibly in the same way.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/809/Warrior Bob
score: 9
sents: text: Slightly OT, but it reminds me of the similar (but not identical) Canadian English phrase:
text: That's cool, eh?
text: It's a sentence softener... and a way to get general acceptance from the person you are speaking with.
text: Anyway, best described with an example: girl 1: That's girl's outfit is SO ugly!
text: girl 2: OMG, how does she even live with herself?
text: girl 1:
text: I know, right?
text: She is SOooo uncool.
text: "I know" can be a strong statement, so adding the question "
text: right?
text: " is a way of getting general acceptance from the other person.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/134/OneProton
score: 9
sents: text: It seems to me that "right?
text: " is a way of creating a bond between the two people talking.
text: I usually hear it in the context of sharing some fact that you wouldn't tell someone to his/her face, e.g. "How does she even live with herself?"
text: from Atomix's example.
text: It's like saying, "Right?
text: We share this idea and therefore we are similar and should be friends."
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/1347/michaelkoss
score: 7
sents: text: Emphatic agreement in a youthful, maybe feminine register.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/1361/altie
score: 1
sents: text: I visited because I'm using the phrase myself and have been doing so for about a year.
text: I moved to NYC about three years ago, and I'm wondering where this particular phrase came from in my vocabulary.
text: I really like it.
text: For me, it does indicate collusion ("I know") and a request that the collusion be validated ("right?").
text: However, I believe the expectation of validation is already implied because the rising action of "right?" is generally very subtle and casual on my part.
text: I'm expecting the person to already validate my attempt at collusion.
text: The phrase also seems chummy, a way of saying in shorthand, "I agree with you completely and therefore we are kindred spirits.
text: "
text: I usually say it almost as a bestowal of praise upon the other person, as if to say, "What a wonderful person I have found who validates my existence so completely with their similar thoughts on things that I had not expected people to think similarly about.
text: What a pleasant surprise!"
text: Anyway, those are just my thoughts.
text: It probably did become abundant because of television, but it definitely seeems like something that would arise in either the Midwest, Deep South, or California (all of which I have ties to) because of a need in those areas to validate community over individuality and that I would feel more compelled to use in the Northeast, where I might feel isolated and want to frequently make references to ways that I might bond or fit in with others in my community.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/30414/Britt
score: 1
sents: text: It is a friendly assertion that the speaker has already had the same idea–as in, "yeah, I know"
text: According to Urbandictionary its, An affirmation that you agree with or can relate to the precedingstatement.
text: It can be used whether the speaker actually knows or not,but in the latter case it usually means that the speaker can attributethe preceding statement to themselves as well.
text: Some examples include, Student: I couldn't pay attention to the lecture because of that ball of sweat hanging from the professor's nose.
text: Classmate: I know,
text: right?
text: Carrie: I can't belive
text: Alvin cut her hair like that!
text: Lisha: I know, right?
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/36028/Lucky
score: 1
sents: text: I know;
text: right?
text: I think we can break the slangy idiom “I know, right?”
text: down into two parts: I know (that) .
text: ―
text: I get what you mean.
text: I've had the same thought.
text: I've been aware of it as well.
text: (Yeah, it is,)
text: right?
text: ―
text: It is really so, right?
text: By the literal interpretation of the sentence, it could grammatically mean to ask whether the speaker, “ I ,” knows something or not ; albeit not making much sense in the context.
text: So it would be reasonable to consider it to be a combined contraction of the two sentences above showing the consentience between the speaker and the lister(s).
text: And “I know; right?” might be more preferable punctuation in this sense.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/221998/Константин Ван
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
The phrase "I know, right" is a way to get general acceptance from the person you are speaking with or to express emphatic agreement. "I know" indicates collusion and "right?" is a request for that collusion to be validated.
It's a sentence softener, expressing emphatic agreement in a youthful, maybe feminine register and indicating both collusion ("I know") and a request that the collusion be validated ("right?")..
The phrase "I know, right" is a way to get general acceptance from the person you are speaking with or to express emphatic agreement. "I know" indicates collusion and "right?" is a request for that collusion to be validated.
It suggests empathy in addition to agreement.  It's a sentence softener and a way to get general acceptance from the person you are speaking with.  It is a way of creating a bond between the two people talking.
 It is a friendly assertion that the speaker has already had the same idea – as in, "yeah, I know. According to  Urbandictionary  it is an affirmation that you agree with or can relate to the preceding statement.
This construction appears to be a friendly way of indicating that you agree with the preceding statement.