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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask where all these composite words have come from?

87 replies

Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 22:53

I'm intrigued as to where these have all suddenly (it seems) appeared from. They're absolutely rife on this site and Facebook, etc.

I'm thinking of "words" such as: alot, abit, inbetween, incase, infront, eachother and quite a few others. Is it just the same process as "maybe", "tomorrow", "today", etc.?

Another thing is the common confusion between "non" and "none" (i.e. "it's non [sic] of my business"), but I suspect that's a pronunciation issue a bit like "have" being confused with "of".

OP posts:
ZoeTurtle · 26/01/2021 22:59

There's always been a lot of aloting but the others are new on me. What really annoys me is people dropping 'to be', like 'he needs told' or 'it needs changed.' Hate it.

Original poster
Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 23:16

There's always been a lot of aloting but the others are new on me.

Really? Only this evening I've seen "eachother" on two different threads and "incase" is more common than "in case" on here.

I wonder what the logic is behind "a lot". After all it's not as if an indefinite article followed by a noun is unusual in any way.

OP posts:
DameCelia · 26/01/2021 23:17

@ZoeTurtle
This?
Again?
It's part of, some, Scottish dialect.
See also Pittsburgh English.
The world doesn't begin and end in England.

AngeloMysterioso · 26/01/2021 23:19

@ZoeTurtle

There's always been a lot of aloting but the others are new on me. What really annoys me is people dropping 'to be', like 'he needs told' or 'it needs changed.' Hate it.
Oh God I hate that too... “the dog needs walked” “the children needed fed” I mean, what???
Original poster
Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 23:20

Hmm, that didn't take long for the thread to be derailed!

OP posts:
DramaAlpaca · 26/01/2021 23:21

What @ZoeTurtle mentions is dialect and perfectly acceptable in speech.

@Nunoftheother's examples are just poor use of language, probably because people don't read as much these days and write what they hear.

AngeloMysterioso · 26/01/2021 23:21

@Nunoftheother

Hmm, that didn't take long for the thread to be derailed!
alright then...

in my experience most of the examples you mention are just poor grammar on the part of the writer.

Lazypuppy · 26/01/2021 23:23

OP i'm confused, whats wrong with all the words in your post, you don't really explain

TwoZeroTwoZero · 26/01/2021 23:24

I often wonder why people write alot or abit (my phone wants to change them to slot and abut) but then don't write alittle or afew for example?

Serin · 26/01/2021 23:29

I guess language evolves. The English used today is very different to the English language of 500 or even just 50 years ago.

CrochetOrBust · 26/01/2021 23:32

I have some old books where “today” is printed as “to-day”, so perhaps it is just language evolution. I don’t like it alot Wink

Changi · 26/01/2021 23:33

What really annoys me is people dropping 'to be', like 'he needs told' or 'it needs changed.' Hate it.

Stay away from Scotland then. It's part of the dialect. Nothing new.

CalishataFolkart · 26/01/2021 23:34

@Lazypuppy

OP i'm confused, whats wrong with all the words in your post, you don't really explain
They’re not real words.

I heard someone pronounce “aswell” as “azwull.”

Misspelling is one thing but changing how you say a word based on the misspelling is strange.

partyatthepalace · 26/01/2021 23:35

I haven’t noticed this. Now I will dammit! There’s one right there Grin

CalishataFolkart · 26/01/2021 23:37

Sorry @Lazypuppy, I should say they’re not real words yet. As language and spelling evolves they’re probably here to stay and will become “correct” in time.

JayAlfredPrufrock · 26/01/2021 23:41

@ZoeTurtle

The English language does bloody start and end in England.

JayAlfredPrufrock · 26/01/2021 23:42

Aargh.

Wrong person. @DameCelia

Original poster
Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 23:47

@Lazypuppy

OP i'm confused, whats wrong with all the words in your post, you don't really explain
Um, didn't think I'd need to...

They're not words. No such word as "incase", "inbetween" or "eachother".

OP posts:
Imissmoominmama · 26/01/2021 23:48

Our English lead at school used to write ‘aswell’.

Original poster
Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 23:49

@partyatthepalace

I haven’t noticed this. Now I will dammit! There’s one right there Grin
I'm surprised. It's very prevalent indeed on this site.
OP posts:
Original poster
Nunoftheother · 26/01/2021 23:51

@CalishataFolkart

Sorry *@Lazypuppy*, I should say they’re not real words yet. As language and spelling evolves they’re probably here to stay and will become “correct” in time.
Annoyingly, I think you're probably right there.
OP posts:
DdraigGoch · 26/01/2021 23:59

[quote JayAlfredPrufrock]@ZoeTurtle

The English language does bloody start and end in England.[/quote]
Ironically American English is closer to 18th Century English than British English is.

JayAlfredPrufrock · 27/01/2021 00:02

That would be American English then.

Calmandmeasured1 · 27/01/2021 00:32

OP i'm confused, whats wrong with all the words in your post, you don't really explain
They are incorrectly spelt because they should be two separate words and have been incorrectly joined together.

Alot should be a lot.
Abit should be a bit.
Inbetween should be spelt either in between or in-between.
Incase should be in case.
Infront should be in front.
Eachother should be each other.

BubblyBarbara · 27/01/2021 02:11

Incase should be a word as it makes no sense anyway

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