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by Taylor on December 23rd, 2007
I'm aware, and I have alot of grammar peeves.
I think that your not alone.
There's alot of people who seem to loose there grammar education as they get older.
But, maybe they never really learned it very good.
Irregardless, most of the time I could care less. It doesn't really effect me that much. Its really pretty unimportant as long as I can understand what their saying.
I usually judge the question or answer based on it's merit. ;-)
by Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger on December 23rd, 2007
Yes, this was taught to me in grade school. I never write 'alot'.
by iwnit on December 23rd, 2007
1) Here some instances of this:
"Camp Crop Alot offers you several options for a weekend full of cropping!!"
http://www.campcropalot.com/
"For 25 years, Choc-Alot has been Tucson’s favorite local chocolate shop."
http://www.chocalot.com/
"Bid-Alot Auctions serving the local community."
http://www.bid-alot.com/
"Here at Tank-alot we had a dream which could have become a nightmare"
http://www.tanklimo.com/
2) Here some grammar point of view:
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000175.htm
3) Here a discussion about this:
http://blather.newdream.net/a/alot.html
Interesting is the Google argument:
" "Alot" is slang.
80,000,000 google matches--
That's alot."
Today, there are even about 129,000,000 results for alot in Google against 561,000,000 for "a lot".
So about 18,7% write this alternatively. It *is* a lot!!!
What do we learn of this?
Languages can sometimes change...
by Wolfen on December 23rd, 2007
This is quite a common mistake for many people. Another is using "loose" in place of "lose"; "it's" in place of "its"; "your" in place of "you're".
It's worse when I find these same mistakes in print; newspapers, websites, magazines.
It seems that spelling and grammar are just not as important as they once were.
by Brian I on December 23rd, 2007
Not a lot of people know that a lot is two words and the word allot has two l's.
by scubaduba on December 23rd, 2007
It is one of them. Using "snuck" is another. The past tense of to sneak is sneaked, not snuck.
Both of these things seem to be pervasive, at least in the U.S. My son wrote alot on something (He's only 9) and I told him it was two words and he responded "My teacher said it is one word." OH BOY.
by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on December 23rd, 2007
Having spent a great deal of time writing when I was gainfully employed, I am aware the "alot" is incorrect. This rates fairly low on my spelling and grammar (not grammer) top peeves list. I am more annoyed by things like have being spelled "haf". . .for example,
Do we haf to go to Aunt Bertha's for Christmas this year?
by Anonymous on December 23rd, 2007
Yes I am aware... a lot...however I don't go nuts seeing alot.
by Wickels on December 23rd, 2007
I am aware, but often guilty, as well. :-)
<~~Is sorry alot - err a lot.
;-)
by Arisztid on February 10th, 2008
I am guilty of the "alot" thing. I have always spelled it that way and only recently have started to change it. It is going to take a lot of time I fear.
Another thing I do is spell "thank you" as "thankyou". That is how I was taught in grade school and that is one I am probably always going to do.
Misuse of contractions get to me as does misusing "lose" and "loose". Misusing "their", "they're", and "there" can bother me.
by redcatt63 is around here somewhere...... on December 27th, 2007
Yes, it is one of my pet peeves. I know my spelling and grammar are not always perfect, but my father was "Conan the Grammarian" as I used to call him. It drove me nuts that he always corrected us. However, I ended up doing quite well in English/grammar classes and grew up with the same pet peeves as my father. Other ones are mixing up you're/your, whether/weather, to/too.....well, I could go on all night but it probably wouldn't make any difference to those who don't know the difference!
by Cowboy-Matter of Fact on December 23rd, 2007
I became aware of myself doing it recently and have tried to correct it.
by oLd SkooL FooL is Smoking A Fat Joint on December 23rd, 2007
I have lost a lot of my grammar skills by chatting online since AOL first came out (when they used to charge by the hour)
by Sloonybartfast on February 28th, 2011
"Alright" is one of my pet peeves. IT'S TWO WORDS! "All" and "right".
by JamesD on February 14th, 2008
Yes. I've seen it many times on here, and it seems like a new word has been invented. I always thought 'a lot' was correct.
by angel on February 10th, 2008
I am aware and an still guilty
by Gonzo on December 23rd, 2007
I've seen it happen. I seem to be spelling alot of simple words incorrectly lately. Tut tut.
by You have no idea I am here on December 23rd, 2007
I try to explain to my students (grade 4) that it's sort of like saying, "A bunch of...", "A group of...", "A container of..." Hopefully, they recognize that "lot" is a word all on its own.
by hijklmno on December 23rd, 2007
Well, as so many people use it as one word I'd say it'll not be too long until it's in various dictionaries.
etymonline.com says that the first written use of the word "lot" to mean, well, lots of things is only from 1812. I bet there were people then saying "'lot' doesn't mean "many things, it's wrong to do so!"
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=lot&searchmode=none
by EL1 2 on December 23rd, 2007
I am aware of that. I would guess that at least 95% of my spellign errors are due to hastiness and carelessness rather than ignorance.
by Andres on April 12th, 2009
I am a teacher and I actually prefer the WORD "alot." It should be a legal word used to denote "a large amount of something." Whereas "a lot" (two words) should be used only to describe a "piece of ground" (as in, "You may build your house on a lot at the end of the street"). And as opposed to "allot" which means to "allow someone to have a certain set amount of something," such as "an allotment of money." So I do use "alot" and will will continue to do so!
by Zebulon on February 10th, 2008
I spell it alot just because it's the way I've always spelled it. I do it alot, apparently.
by BigDaddyBS on February 10th, 2008
A pet peeve? Not really. I spell it correctly and you can never tell in this case if it's actually spelled that way or a typo.
MY pet peeve is more They're (They are), Their (possesive) and THRE (not here)
by DuncanPed on December 23rd, 2007
Your so right; I see that mistake alot. People don't pay attention to there writing anymore. Its really annoying. People should be more careful when their writing.
:P
Seriously though, my biggest pet peeve - probably because I'm in the Navy - is when people use "Straits" instead of Strait. For example, it should be the Strait of Gibraltar, not the Straits of Gibraltar, etc.. There are very few "straits" in the world.
by compaq on October 9th, 2011
Yes seeing the word "alot" annoys me alot. In fact, it annoys all my friends alot too. I think the word "alot" annoys alot of people alot, but then again, we use the word "alot" alot so overtime, alot of people begin using the word "alot" alot.
by naruto uzymaki on October 9th, 2011
yes it is it should be worth 5000 and tooo much is 60000
by iiKnow on February 10th, 2008
I've never seen it spelled alot and never wrote it as such. I think it's just you.
by Galeanda on February 10th, 2008
This is not an original question. It has been discussed here and most people do know that it is two words and that's how i usually see it written here.
by Brian on February 12th, 2008
I know that the standard usage is "a lot" and that "a" is the article and "lot" is the noun.
However, when I see "alot" I usually know what the writer means based on the contextual usage. I have yet to see the compressed usage and be bothered by it.
I'm a member of another site that has a few Dutch members and at least one of them compressed the phrase, "or so" to read "orso". Again, I knew what she meant so no problemo.
What bugs me sometimes are sentences with syntax so skewed that I have to rearrange it to understand it.
by NatWhilk on February 14th, 2008
I didn't bother to look. Whether it's there or no has no relevance to the difference in use between "a lot" as a noun phrase and "alot" as an adverb.
The majority of people who answered the question are laboring under a faulty understanding of how language actually works and what dictionaries are for.
But, you go ahead and keep thinking that way. Hey, I'll even let you have the last word here if it makes you feel better. Right you are if you think you are. But I've enjoyed the discussion (how?) alot. ;-)
by NatWhilk on February 12th, 2008
oops x 2
by NatWhilk on February 12th, 2008
oops
by NatWhilk on February 12th, 2008
"Alot" is an adverb, as in "I go to the store alot." It describes "how" a verb is "done." It did begin life as "a lot," but it has changed over time by usage.
However, "a lot" is a noun phrase, as in "I have a lot of bills."
I think the distinction between the noun and the adverb is usefu.
So, "alot" isn't "wrong," unless you mistakenly use it for the noun phrase "a lot."
cf: awhile
by Anonymous on February 14th, 2008
It doesn't really bother me alot. Alot of times I think about it alot while I'm typing and I like alot how "alot" looks on paper. Alot of people may not like it alot but I do. ...Alot! :)
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You're reading Are you aware that "alot' is wrong? "Alot" should be spelled "a lot". It's TWO separate words, not one; not a compound word either. Is this common error anyone else's pet peeve?
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Comments
this made me giggle.
by badhabitsx3 on December 23rd, 2007
Thanks. I'm afraid 'alot' of people won't get it, lol. :)
by Taylor on December 23rd, 2007
It's a good answer irregardless.
by Cowboy-Matter of Fact on December 23rd, 2007
You are very edumicated and wize Taylor;)
by gtravels loves her life penguin on December 23rd, 2007
LOL, cute : )
by Gina on December 23rd, 2007
Thanks! You are all TO kind! :)
by Taylor on December 23rd, 2007
Hahaha!!!
by Gina on December 23rd, 2007
You seem to have hit all my peeves too! Especially "loose" instead of "lose" as in "I want to loose weight" - that one drives me nuts!
by elviswife on December 23rd, 2007
hehe. Thanks. It actually took quite a bit of effort to work them all into one post. Every sentence has at least one mistake. It was kind of fun! :)
by Taylor on December 23rd, 2007
L M A O! That was good and I agree with you're closing statement.
by Brian on February 12th, 2008
ok...just saying.. you said "i could care less", when it should actually be "I could NOT care less" (right off my pet peeve list, that one is) :)
by DebbieInc on February 18th, 2009
LOL. Debbie, everything in my post was 'incorrect'. That was the whole point. I'm well aware that the term is that I could NOT care less. I challenge you to go through the answer and find a single sentence that is not rife with grammatical mistakes. That was the whole point. It's a joke.
by Taylor on February 25th, 2009
Great job, T.
I notice the original "asker" hasn't chimed in; I wonder why?
Keep up the good work, we "Grammar Police"* need a good laugh from this stuff every now and then!
(I checked Taylor's profile before posting this comment, and unfortunately, he hasn't logged on since 2009. Humor like his is a gift!)
*I'm referring to myself here.
by Randy D on September 24th, 2011
A LOT.
by compaq on October 9th, 2011
I thank you, Randy D. :-)
by Taylor on January 1st, 2012