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Monday, May 17, 2010
Reader mail of the week: A Lot v Alot
Someone wrote to correct me on my improper use of “alot”. I didn’t know, but there is even a website solely dedicated to this. My answer and reasoning:
Two important points:
1. The English language is very forgiving. If I want to use the word “thru” instead of “through”, that’s fine. If I want to use “w/Phillies” as opposed to “with Philies”, that’s fine too. The key is if what I say can be read with its intent intact and the flow of the writing to be constant. If I were to say “alot of people” as opposed to “a lot of people”, I’m happy with it. Indeed, what if I wanted to say “a parking lot of people”, and ignore the word parking, and just focus on any kind of lot. Then, I would have to say “a lot of people”, like “a building of people”. “a” and “lot” would need to be tied-in together. A properly constructed language would make the word a-lot or alot. This is very different from “a little”, because little means little. Lot, without the “a” in front of it, does not mean much. It means a batch of something. By prefacing the word “lot” with “a”, we are changing the meaning of the word. “A lot” now becomes its own two-worded term, separate from what it is without “a”. That makes no sense to me.
2. New words are created all the time, because English is that kind of language. I’m not going to wait for Merriam Webster to rule on this. I will write alot (or if you like, a-lot), because that makes sense to me, and, just as important, keeps the intent clear and flow consistent.
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