'A lot'! Not 'alot'!!!!

fudgester SG

One of my personal pet peeves would be the nonexistent word 'alot'.

I know it may seem like a small thing, but honestly, I get pretty worked up every time I see it.

One day, while I was reading a certain book for research, I came across this (circled):

Alexander, R.M: The History of Fish Mechanics, in
Webb, Weihs (1983): Fish Biomechanics

Arrrgh.... it's 'a lot', not 'alot'!!!! Mad

<Precious> SG

If ever it be a 1-word, it'll be allot, not alot and if plenty's the meaning, it should be 'a lot of.......' but allot =/= a lot of....... Razz

It's deplorable how we pride ourselves being proficient in the English language when such elementary mistakes continue to be committed at will....... Crying or Very sad

RaaRaa SG

Allot is like, alloting seats kinda thing ?

ndmmxiaomayi SG

This mistake is actually quite common in books... Laughing Even in story books... I avoid such books when doing recommendations or reviews, it's bad for those learning English.

Whenever I see such books... the book goes to my trash bin... don't care if it's good or bad...

<Precious> SG

Yup, exactly! And the word is spelt with double 't's, not 1.
Therefore the word alot does not exist at all - TS's point! Razz

mancha SG

I think it is from the spoken version of a lot, meaning 'many'.

http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000175.htm

yong93 SG

Can i ask you y would u read on fishes …

The man who was death SG

it's like dunno or becos.....

can find lots of things like this in song lyrics booklet because need to save space...

gigabyte14 SG

how's your hair? Laughing

is it growing alot already?

fairlady_xoxo SG

Laughing

I'm also very very sensitive to this word!!! AHHH! Drives me nuts when people misuse it! Mad

polarsnake SG

I'm more interested in the words 'Fish Mechanics'. Laughing

Hmm... I believe that 'a lot' is the correct way to spell it. However, often I get confused when I see an article somewhere that writes as 'alot'.

fudgester SG

Ah.... ambiguity in language. I agree that the term may conjure up images of fishes carrying spanners and motor oil. Laughing

Anyway, I'm reading this book as part of my research into the kinematics of fish swimming.

Gotta write a 30-page term paper on the subject. Mad

AndrewPKYap SG

Originally posted by fudgester:
Alexander, R.M: The History of Fish Mechanics, in
Webb, Weihs (1983): Fish Biomechanics[/size]

What the fish.... you studying to be a fish mechanic? Laughing

TrixCereals SG

Just like alright and all right. Laughing

polarsnake SG

I read an article on fish mechanics before quite some time back. The article showed an image of a gigantic mechanical tuna-like structure that was constructed

dibilo SG

In cobuild, I found this statement

"I am having alot of fun with parties from all my previous jobs as well as the current one and lots of Christmas concerts."

Maybe this form of writing is accepted in some cases. Probably in informal writing.

de_middle SG

Neutral Neutral Neutral

hisoka SG

and i thought fish biomechanics is like how the bone structure and muscles interact for movement and whatever Shocked

polarsnake SG

They constructed it to show how the structure would move against water i think. As in how the water would move against the fish body (there's a term for it, can't remember at this moment).

polarsnake SG

Btw I think Fudgie studying Mechanical Engineering leh not Bioengineering. Laughing

So my guess is that your kind of fish mechanics and his kind of fish mechanics is different.