# A lot! One word or two words. (Alot of words?!) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127 "2012-03-29T06:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/1 "2012-03-29T06:58:19Z")
Two friends of mine are having a rather vociferous debate. Is ‘a lot’ one word or two? One friend insists that due to the space seperating ‘a’ and ‘lot,’ that ‘a lot’ is two words. The other friend counters that a word is anything that can be found in the dictionary. To this friend, it does not matter if there is a space seperating ‘a’ and ‘lot.’ If there is one clear meaning, it is a word. Both friends think the other friend’s argument is utter codswallop. 300 yen rests on the line. Dopers, I beg your wise council. What say yee? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/2 "2012-03-29T07:00:05Z")
> **[The Alot is Better Than You at Everything](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html)** > > As a grammatically conscientious person who frequents internet forums and YouTube, I have found it necessary to develop a few coping mechani... Two words, right? ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/3 "2012-03-29T07:06:07Z")
Would anyone argue that “George III” is a word? It’s in my dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/4 "2012-03-29T11:17:01Z")
“A lot” is without question two words. Perhaps you were thinking about “[allot](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/allot)”? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/5 "2012-03-29T11:21:57Z")
You can find “each other” in the dictionary, too. Doesn’t make it one word either. A lot is two words. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/6 "2012-03-29T11:26:16Z")
Oops. I accidentally voted one word. It is clearly two, and there is zero justification for it being one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/7 "2012-03-29T11:50:38Z")
Why is ‘cannot’ okay as one word, but ‘alot’ is wrong despite popular usage? Looks to me like a bunch of uptight OCD prescriptivist ninnies, wanting to hurt people for not being OCD prescriptivist ninnies. And where’s the option for both? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/8 "2012-03-29T11:59:14Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You can find “each other” in the dictionary, too. Doesn’t make it one word either. A lot is two words. What’s your definition of “makes it a word”? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/9 "2012-03-29T12:01:26Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Why is ‘cannot’ okay as one word, but ‘alot’ is wrong despite popular usage? Because that’s how it is. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/10 "2012-03-29T12:12:58Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Because that’s how it is. Deal with it. No I will not deal with it. You cannot condemn ‘alot’ without condemning ‘cannot’. Popular usage is the language and alot of people use ‘alot’. It is a valid word if you’re not some inconsistent arbitrary OCD prescriptivist nitpicker with too much anal-retentive time on your hands. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/11 "2012-03-29T12:19:12Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > What’s your definition of “makes it a word”? I’m not sure what you’re asking. The OP said his friend claims that since “a lot” is listed in the dictionary it is one word. That’s the OP’s friend’s definition. I’m merely saying that there are other two word phrases listed in the dictionary, I don’t think the OP’s friend would argue are only “one word”. ETA: I think you might be missing the question in the OP- not whether “alot” is valid as one word, but the definition the friend is using makes it one word (not a combination of two words). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/12 "2012-03-29T12:57:18Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > No I will not deal with it. You cannot condemn ‘alot’ without condemning ‘cannot’. Popular usage is the language and alot of people use ‘alot’. It is a valid word if you’re not some inconsistent arbitrary OCD prescriptivist nitpicker with too much anal-retentive time on your hands. On the one hand dictionaries do not proscribe rules; they reflect actual usage. OTOH a fraction of a population’s usage is not enough to raise a traditionally incorrect usage (typically viewed as a reflection of ignorance by others) into mainstream acceptable variance. How much does a variant need to be used until it becomes acceptable rather than a reflection of ignorance? I’d say a lot. A alot is not enough. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/13 "2012-03-29T13:01:48Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Popular usage is the language and alot of people use ‘alot’. A lot of people also use text speak/leet speak. Doesn’t make it right. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/14 "2012-03-29T13:03:41Z")
Another way to put it it: A lot of people misspell “misspell” as “mispell” but “mispell” is still a misspelling. And even though many write “loose” when they mean “lose” they’d still lose an argument that they were write (I mean right) because others make the same mistake; only someone with a screw loose would think otherwise. A fairly common misstake is still a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/15 "2012-03-29T13:16:43Z")
I agree with a previous poster that the OP’s inquiry would be better served not by a poll about “a lot”, but rather by a Great Debate on “what is the best definition of the word ‘word’?” For some everyday, practical purposes, defining “word” as “something, when written, your language happens to set off by spaces” is useful. But when you dig into the grammar, semantics, and underlying reality of a language – and start to compare different languages – a different concept of “word” becomes more useful. By that definition, “a lot” is just an adverb, equivalent to “mucho” in Spanish (for example), or “beaucoup” in French. No English speaker “feels” its roots anymore (“a quantifiable amount, like a land parcel”), just like French speakers no longer feel “nice blow/hit”. Colloquial Spanish does have an expression – “un monton” – which means “a pile/mountain” literally, but is used for “a lot” – but it hasn’t (yet) replaced “mucho”, so the “pileness” is still dimly “felt” by the speaker. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/16 "2012-03-29T13:20:28Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > No I will not deal with it. You cannot condemn ‘alot’ without condemning ‘cannot’. Popular usage is the language and alot of people use ‘alot’. It is a valid word if you’re not some inconsistent arbitrary OCD prescriptivist nitpicker with too much anal-retentive time on your hands. Cannot and “alot” are not the same. A better comparison would be “alittle”. “Alittle” is not a word and neither is “alot”. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/17 "2012-03-29T13:26:06Z")
Don’t belittle those who like alot. Alot them some respect. Or even somerespect. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/18 "2012-03-29T13:27:21Z")
I suppose one could be surprised that the English expression still hasn’t fused into a single “word” (meaning, “collection of letters set off by spaces in the standard written language”), even after centuries of common use as a very common adverb. French fused “beau” and “coup” a while ago. I’ll bet it has something to do with the timing of the invention of the printing press. A lot of written conventions were more or less “set in stone” around that time. (Of course, “a lot” _might_ still fuse someday.) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/19 "2012-03-29T13:32:20Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > It is a valid word if you’re not some inconsistent arbitrary OCD prescriptivist nitpicker with too much anal-retentive time on your hands. It is possible to make your point without a lot of insulting words. Please make a note of it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127/20 "2012-03-29T13:35:38Z")
I just realized that one reason it hasn’t “fused” as a written convention, is because it is still parsed by English speakers as a divisible phrase: we can say “ **a whole lot** ”. I wonder if an Oxford dictionary cite for this is “Page/Plant, 1969” 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-one-word-or-two-words-alot-of-words/617127.md?page=2)