A LOT of Mistakes!

by Cate Mahoney

There are times when I’m reading and I cringe. That may be for a huge variety of reasons—like I don’t understand the academic jargon of the article I’m trying to read about Walt Whitman. But in most cases, it’s when people are writing colloquially and they make mistakes that would not be obvious if they were speaking. Here is one of my favorites: “A lot” spelled as “Alot.” Hyperbole and a Half, an awesome blog written and drawn by Allie Brosh, has an excellent way to counteract the instinct to write “alot”:

“The Alot is an imaginary creature that I made up to help me deal with my compulsive need to correct other people’s grammar.  It kind of looks like a cross between a bear, a yak and a pug, and it has provided hours of entertainment for me in a situation where I’d normally be left feeling angry and disillusioned with the world.

 

“For example, when I read the sentence “I care about this alot,” this is what I imagine:

“Similarly, when someone says “alot of _______,” I picture an Alot made out of whatever they are talking about.

“If someone says something like “I feel lonely alot” or “I’m angry alot,” I’m going to imagine them standing there with an emo haircut, sharing their feelings with an Alot.

 

“The Alot is incredibly versatile.”
May this animal remind you not to write “alot” anymore. If you picture that animal, he’s there to guide you back to “a lot.”