Is it alot or or is it a lot?

[yosemite]

I'm a spelling and grammar nut case as well and I shiver when I see things like that. However, I realize not everybody is strong on spelling and grammar skills. They probably have skills in areas where I certainly lack ability.

Then, of course, there is the word "allot".

 

[persi & alley]

Originally Posted by sarahp

It's 2 separate words!! There's no such word as "alot", and your college professor is an idiot for saying "common usage makes something correct" - that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!!

Listen to your wife

You are one of the few people that spell separate correctly so you must know what you are talking about. The common usage thing all came about once when I asked my English professor about the word ain't. She pointed out that even the President at that time said it all the time. The other word during the discussion was gonna. She then pointed out that so many people say "ain't gonna" (including the President) that common usage made it correct because everybody understood it.

I do not know why, but I did not receive an A that semester in English. Yeah, I agree she was an idiot.

Anyway, scrolling through the replies here, I see a lot of people use alot a lot of the time. I also see alot of people use a lot alot of the time.

It's just a poll, the first one I have ever done on The Cat Lounge. It seems to have gotten alot of interesting replies and ain't that what The Cat Lounge is all about? I think I'm gonna go see if the PHX question has been answered yet on the other poll going on right now.

 

[cinder]

Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

I think I'm gonna go see if the PHX question has been answered yet on the other poll going on right now.

I aint touching that one with a ten foot pole.

 

[emrldsky]

Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

You are one of the few people that spell separate correctly so you must know what you are talking about. The common usage thing all came about once when I asked my English professor about the word ain't. She pointed out that even the President at that time said it all the time. The other word during the discussion was gonna. She then pointed out that so many people say "ain't gonna" (including the President) that common usage made it correct because everybody understood it.

I do not know why, but I did not receive an A that semester in English. Yeah, I agree she was an idiot.

Anyway, scrolling through the replies here, I see a lot of people use alot a lot of the time. I also see alot of people use a lot alot of the time.

It's just a poll, the first one I have ever done on The Cat Lounge. It seems to have gotten alot of interesting replies and ain't that what The Cat Lounge is all about? I think I'm gonna go see if the PHX question has been answered yet on the other poll going on right now.

I think there's a big difference between spoken slang (or even written slang) and a missing space.

No matter how you spell "a lot," it's spoken the same exact way each time. Removing the space just makes it a misspelling.

But, I don't have a problem with how others write or speak. However, a lot is the proper way to spell it.

My BA in English told me so, lol.

 

[joanne511]

Definitely a lot.

It bugs me when I see people write alot.

 

[icklemiss21]

Originally Posted by joanne511

Definitely a lot.

It bugs me when I see people write alot.

It would bug me to see it written in a formal type setting (a text book etc) but with so many people being from different countries and not having English as a first language (or not necessarily having as much schooling (or schooling of the same standards) as some others, it definitely would not bug me in informal settings such as TCS

but then I say alot on TCS too

sometimes out of laziness of not wanting to go back and change it if I type too fast

 

[sofiecusion]

It's "a lot". I minored in English in college. That doesn't bother me as much as people misusing the words: there, their, and they're. I dated a guy a long time ago who always did that. He was the worst speller ever! He refused to correct his misusages or use spellcheck. I don't mind it somewhatin an informal setting because everyone makes typos. He was excessive though, and it was very distracting. He spelled Iraq as Irac, and numerous other misspellings and for some reason LOVED to type commas everywhere! It was REALLY distracting to me, and I tried helping him, but he refused. We weren't together very long....

 

[joanne511]

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

It would bug me to see it written in a formal type setting (a text book etc) but with so many people being from different countries and not having English as a first language (or not necessarily having as much schooling (or schooling of the same standards) as some others, it definitely would not bug me in informal settings such as TCS

but then I say alot on TCS too

sometimes out of laziness of not wanting to go back and change it if I type too fast

I don't judge, it's just one of those unexplainable pet peeves. There are other mistakes that don't give me pause, but for some reason the aesthetic of alot does for some reason. English is only 1 of 4 native languages spoken in my extended family, so I can appreciate misspellings such as those you outlined above. I'm impressed by multi-lingual folks.

 

[icklemiss21]

Not judging you (or anyone else) just my opinion that I would never let it bother me on a website like this where I know people don't all have the same skills

Funny this came up on here because a co-worker gave me a document where she had used alot throughout it and it bugged me

as I said before, just depends on the situation it is used in

 

[crittermom]

It's just a poll, the first one I have ever done on The Cat Lounge. It seems to have gotten alot of interesting replies and ain't that what The Cat Lounge is all about?

Ain't that the truth.Like I said before, there are so many more important things to worry about other than something as simple as someones spelling on TCS.