A question for people who write 'alot'

[Devilledmeg]

Do you think 'alot' is how you're meant to spell it and whenever you see 'a lot' you think it's spelt wrong? Or do you know it's incorrect and just prefer to spell it like that?

Genuinely baffled as whenever I see words on here repeatedly spelt differently I look it up to check I haven't spelt it incorrectly all my life 😁

People who aren't great at spelling tend not to notice other people's spelling much, or at least they don't remember how others spell certain words.

I didn't know it was wrong till I had been using it wrongly for about 20 years

I suppose I thought maybe it’s one of those things that can be spelt either way….

I find this quite interesting. It’s such a common misspelling that it must have an origin story - googled but can’t find an explanation. I suppose it could just be that in speech it’s more common to run the (short) ‘a’ into the ‘lot’ rather than say two distinct and separate words (long) ‘a’ … ‘lot’, unless you’re emphasising the ‘lot’ part of the word, of course. Then, much like should’ve being misheard in speech and being written as should of, it gets translated in to text that’s incorrect.

I always spell it as "a lot" but I think I just thought you could spell it either way.

I had to look up "of course" the other day because I've seen a few people write is as "ofcourse"!

Is it a regional thing like brought/bought draw/drawer?

Its hardly a big deal in the grand scheme, you know what they mean

I think some people think 'alot' is a word. And I guess if you see other people use it, it reinforces that belief. A bit like 'should of/would of etc' becoming the norm.

I know it's spelt wrong and I teach it to every new phone I get.

I believe it should be a word and continued use will make it so

Is it a regional thing like brought/bought draw/drawer?

These are regional things, are they?

Sorry, should have said "aren't" not "are"!

I keep seeing 'aswell' on here. I assume people write it as they hear it. To me, it seems pretty recent.

@LuciaPopp

I presume so.

Accents?

No one I know would write bought or draw instead of brought or drawer because we say the r properly

I think you must be wise enough to understand the sentence and the context it's used in. Move on or maybe get yourself some therapy.

'Brought' and 'bought' are not regional, they're just spelling mistakes.

A bit like 'loose' and 'lose'.

I had to read the OP again but she hasn't said she doesn't understand the sentence and context?

Is it not just a quicker way to text, similar to 'lyk' and 'gud' etc?

I'm not good at spelling, but it's one I remember because my year 8 English teacher used to say "you never write afew, do you?"

But sometimes if people go on too much about things I know one is considered better but I can't remember which way round. My df always had a thing about "different from" or "different to". I think he liked "different from" better, but he went on so much, I never can remember which way round so I avoid using it.

Rediculous seems to be a thing these days. And wondering and wandering have swapped meaning apparently.

Defiantly I generally agree with this OP. It’s a discusting habit

This is my favourite cartoon about the ‘alot’

The alot is better than you at everything

Brought/bought, too/to, loose/lose, are all annoying when used incorrectly.

Should of instead of should have is annoying…

However, I wrote alot instead of a lot because I don’t care about that one, and it’s easier 😂

Ashame you don’t like it. 🤣

I teach English for a living yet cannot get wound up about spelling. I find some people so sneery about it.

I’m bloody awful at anything that involves revolving shapes etc… I would be very upset if someone was rude to me about this and made me feel thick because of it. We all have different strengths and weaknesses in life.

Does it even matter at the end of the day? If its evolved to alot

I no 🤷‍♀️😂