Joining words

[Bluevelvetsofa]

This morning, in one post, I’ve seen ‘afew’, ‘abit’ and ‘alot’

Surely people realise that these are separate words.

[JanglingJack]

Innit

[OhItsOnlyCynthia]

Aswell is one I see often. Everyday for every day as well.

I think people don't realise. If you don't read a lot, you write words as you hear them.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Presumably the people doing this don't realise, though it seems odd not to twig that the 'a' is the article. I suppose there are a few words where there's a genuine join to an a- but they're different grammatically and I can't think of any as common - anear and afar for instance.

[CeleryCeller]

a bout time this a bomination was e radicated!

[PedantScorner]

I sometimes do it but not deliberately. It's a typo.

[wandawaves]

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1

[Bluevelvetsofa]

All part of evolving language I suppose.

[upinaballoon]

What is a lert?

[PedantScorner]

Evolving?

[ErrolTheDragon]

@PedantScorner

Evolving?

Mutating - but not all mutations are beneficial, some result in loss of function.

[KnickerlessParsons]

It's only recently I realised that incase is actually two words and I'm a language graduate and a bit of a grammar pedant myself 🤭

[PedantScorner]

That's more like it.
Dictionaries accepting the new meaning or spelling of a word is decaying the richness of the language.
I learnt today that apparently it is acceptable to call a small dark coffee 'expresso'.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Dictionaries accepting the new meaning or spelling of a word is decaying the richness of the language.

Alternative spellings aren't necessarily a bad thing - they give crossword compilers more options!

Otoh accepting that 'literally' can mean 'not literally' is ludicrous.

[PedantScorner]

@KnickerlessParsons , I am slightly confused by 'in case'. To me it means 'just in case' but it's used for 'in the case of'. Is it both?

e.g. I'll take my brolly with me in case it rains.
In case of rain, you get wet.

(2nd one doesn't seem right to me and I hear it from people who have English as a 2nd language)

I appreciate that 'In case of an emergency break glass' has the 2nd meaning, but being me I'd rewrite it as 'In an emergency, break the glass'.

[PedantScorner]

@ErrolTheDragon , The word literally is exactly one of the ones I was thinking.
Another one is decimate.

One thing MN has opened my eyes to is how bad the standard of English seems to be. (e.g. to air is human, high rate MIL)

[MontyDonsBlueScarf]

@OhItsOnlyCynthia

Aswell is one I see often. Everyday for every day as well.

I think people don't realise. If you don't read a lot, you write words as you hear them.

Is there not a difference in meaning between every day and everyday?

[OhItsOnlyCynthia]

Yes, that's why I mentioned it. People use 'everyday' when they mean 'every day', not just when they mean 'everyday'.

[marshmallowfinder]

It's very annoying, OP. I see noone written frequently too. 😠

[KnickerlessParsons]

@PedantScorner

@KnickerlessParsons , I am slightly confused by 'in case'. To me it means 'just in case' but it's used for 'in the case of'. Is it both?

e.g. I'll take my brolly with me in case it rains.
In case of rain, you get wet.

(2nd one doesn't seem right to me and I hear it from people who have English as a 2nd language)

I appreciate that 'In case of an emergency break glass' has the 2nd meaning, but being me I'd rewrite it as 'In an emergency, break the glass'.

In a sentence like "bring your umbrella in case it rains" I would previously (before I saw the light) have written "incase".

[PedantScorner]

I think people don't realise. If you don't read a lot, you write words as you hear them.
I think some people have strange hearing (could of etc)
Some seem to not think about what something means and apply their own sort of logic to get a meaning (e.g. rest bite, high rate)]

@KnickerlessParsons , any idea why you thought it was one word?

[KnickerlessParsons]

Because when you say it out loud it sounds like one word.
Try saying "Just incase" out loud. There isn't a natural break between "in" and "case".

[PedantScorner]

It sounds like Justin Case when I say it. My ideal man is Justin Myimagination.

[KnickerlessParsons]

I will add that I read alot a lot!

I know it sounds daft, and I am a language graduate, literate, and known for my gramatical pedantry in work - I get asked to proof read for people - but I really did think it was one word 😬

[PedantScorner]

I suspect that not thinking about what a word means, the spellchecker not flagging it, and predictive typing, and people not saying words properly will mean we see more errors
Examples of these are 'unpresidented' and 'councilling' (both those are flagged), but I regularly see 'setting a president' and 'speaking to a councillor [about mental wellness issues]'

[upinaballoon]

@PedantScorner

@ErrolTheDragon , The word literally is exactly one of the ones I was thinking.
Another one is decimate.

One thing MN has opened my eyes to is how bad the standard of English seems to be. (e.g. to air is human, high rate MIL)

Another thing that I notice on posts is poor punctuation or a total lack of it. I realise that some people post in haste and some have English as a second language so it won't be perfect, but really..............