Yes, I haven’t written anything in a while and the first thing I post is an English Major Dork update. Some of you may remember skipping over these posts on the old Jo-Tel. Haven’t done one since the switch. I actually started doing a holiday weekend reading column but I got sidetracked but this link from the Seattle times about the OED removing 16,000 hyphens from its new edition. I for one support this move wholeheartedly. Too many compound words are hyphenated when they should be either one word, or two words. e.g.:
well-known (adj.) -> well known
brand-new (adj.) -> brand newlate-night (adj.) -> latenight
front-runner (n.) -> frontrunner
best-seller (n.) -> bestseller
While they’re at it, they should go ahead and compound a bunch of words that are still two separate words. e.g.
art house (n., adj.) -> arthouse (an arthouse film)
bona fide (adj.) -> bonafide (I would entertain arguments against this change, messing with the Mother Language and whatnot.)
Hard core is still two words, if you’re not talking about the music genre. Lamesauce.
And yes, I’m going to go ahead and say it.
a lot -> alot.
Okay, so probably just through having it pounded into you by teachers and condescending friends that “alot” is two words, this suggestion appears wrong on every level, including the aesthetic. But this is ridiculous. What generally leads to the creation of a compound word? Widespread usage leads to the combining of the words … then the compound starts creeping into copy as editors adopt it as a preferred spelling … then the New Yorker adopts it. Then the OED adopts it.
But with a lot, despite it definitely being the most widely used noncombined compound, that’s never happened. My though is, a lot is so widely used that it comes up a lot early in life, and everyone tells you over and over that it’s two words. And yet despite the fact that probably every person over 18 has been told that a lot is two words hundreds of times, 40% of them still write “alot.”
If, due to gross and widespread misuse, the phrase “begs the question” now has an accepted meaning of “raises the question,” then a lot should damn well have become alot by now. It’s honestly like if we still said “to day.” Will this go on “for ever”? Hopefully not “all ways.”
I honestly think that a lot is still two words only because, much like say, legalizing marijuana, too many people have committed too much to just admit that they were wrong. I mean, this is going to take 33% out of your annoying grammar correction friends correcting repertoire, leaving only the I/me, well/good dichotomies. (Personal aside, since I’ve become a professional copy editor, friends and acquaintances’ correction of my speech has risen 400% at least. Generally, you get annoyed when someone does this once.) The suicide rate among 1st grade teachers would double. The rookie replacement teachers’ inexperience would cause horseplay levels to skyrocket, endangering a whole generation of the English-speaking world. Chaos would spread. The world’s banks will start monitoring a new metric that accounts for productivity lost due to scraped knees and titty twisters. Detective John Kimble would have to come out of retirement to quell the uprising. I’M A COP YOU IDIOT!!!
Of course, if you’re talking about a literal lot, as in a share of something (which can be any size, including a little lot), or a piece of land, or that which one draws when one draws a lot from a group of lots, by all means, “a lot.”
But if you mean a large number or amount or extent, “alot.”
Alas, much like the pro-bong rips politician, as an editor I stand to lose too much by leading the charge. But I might write some letters. It would be kind of cool to be called a shit-for-brains by William Safire.
Stay tuned for the next English Major Dork Update when I delve into the “this Friday” versus “next Friday” when its Monday controversy. Look out for that one.
But, to sum up, less hyphens, more compound words.
—PETE
16 responses so far ↓
Thrill // Nov 22, 2007 at 11:36 am
Totally disagree with you on a lot. It means a large amount because a literally lot is, like… well, a lot. Are you similarly be in favor of “aton” instead of “a ton”? Not being snarky, just pointing out the analogy.
Walloch is a huge fan of pointing out analogies, by the way.
Stickler // Nov 22, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Pete do you feel that a lot has become grossly overspelled due to the fact that more people are typing on the internet. Therefore increasing the amount of misspellings since most people don’t spell check?
Trey // Nov 22, 2007 at 9:23 pm
justbecauseamostpeopledosomethingdoesnotmeanitsright.
PETE // Nov 22, 2007 at 10:30 pm
You guys are just slaves to tradition. And Trey, as far as grammar goes, when a lot of people start doing something, it does become right. That’s the natural evolution of language. That’s how new words get created. Authors writing in English at the turn of the century would have a fucking aneurism if they saw the word that we combine today. alongside? mailroom?? backyard!!!!!
And Thrill, I expect more from you.
Does back yard literally mean “back yard”??
Does bookshelf literally mean “book shelf”?
bmk12000 // Nov 23, 2007 at 7:58 pm
i’m with the “a lot” crowd. but i am totally looking forward to the “this friday / next friday” rant. that always bugs me.
bmk12000 // Nov 24, 2007 at 11:52 am
what the hell is this? if anything is settled, isn’t it “cannot”? new york times:
“There is a saying in the Middle East, that there can not be war without Egypt — but there can not be peace without Syria.”
PETE // Nov 24, 2007 at 2:23 pm
They’re both acceptable. English is weird:
http://alexfiles.com/cannot.shtml
bmk12000 // Nov 25, 2007 at 3:39 am
read the nyt sentence again and tell me if “alexfiles” dictates a “cannot” there.
PETE // Nov 25, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Appears the be fine. Must admit, I wasn’t aware of the rules governing cannot myself before I looked it up.
Thrill // Nov 26, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Hold on, we’ve been over the difference between “backyard” and “back yard”. The two-word version is a noun; the one-word version is an adjective. As in, “The Jo-Tel’s legendary backyard barbecues have taken place in the Jo-Tel back yard since 2004. They a lot of fun.”
Thrill // Nov 26, 2007 at 12:46 pm
*They’re
M. Bock // Nov 26, 2007 at 1:48 pm
For the love of God, Montressor!
Thrill // Nov 26, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I take it you’re on PETE’s side, Bock?
Hip E. // Nov 28, 2007 at 5:47 pm
I think it’s pretty clear after a few days of this that “alot” is a horrible disgusting.
PETE // Nov 28, 2007 at 7:40 pm
re: backyard. Now, actually, backyard is acceptable as noun and adj. But back yard is acceptable for noun, but no for adjective. Now you tell me if English makes sense.
Not to harp on the alot thing, but my main issue, I guess, is that when you’re referring to an actual lot of something, that lot can be of any size. There’s nothing in the term lot that denotes “a large amount or extent.” Alot, however, does denote amounts and extents that are large. I feel like combining the words, although it admitted looks like an abomination, would limit confusion. I kind of know how a religious person feels when they begin to realize that everything they’ve been taught is a lie. Generally when the only argument for keeping something as-is is “That’s the way it’s always been,” it’s time to sack up and make a change.
Johnny D // Nov 29, 2007 at 2:24 pm
I was about to link to the wiktionary’s def. of lot and then i compared it to MW’s and decided not to.
The wiktionary will never be as good and scholarly as MW, unlike wikipedia which often comes very close to Brittanica. Etymologists exist for a reason. Perhaps the phrase a lot comes from the property definition, or the fortune definition:
3 a: something that comes to one upon whom a lot has fallen : share b: one’s way of life or worldly fate : fortune
4 a: a portion of land b: a measured parcel of land having fixed boundaries and designated on a plot or survey c: a motion-picture studio and its adjoining property d: an establishment for the storage or sale of motor vehicles
I say this because if you consider a lot as a metric of an item, then it might not necessarily mean to much, but if somebody has given you a lot of that item, in the property sense, its likely that its a large quantity, enough to fill a parcel of land.
The term “a lot” is slang or probably was at one time. I’m no english major, though.
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