Wyn Drabble: Two into one won't go

Wyn Drabble

Do you know one of the most common errors that English teachers edit in pupils' work?

I didn't use the verb "correct" because I don't like it. It smacks of red pen and naughtiness and teacher methods and attitudes I've never approved of. I'm afraid I associate "correcting" work with an acceptance of caning or the strap.

Anyway, that's all another story. The error is "alot", spelt as one word. "A lot" is two words and, I hope, always will be. At least until the language morphs into an amorphous blob of inseparable letters.

Yes, of course, "allot" is a word but that's completely different. It means "give or apportion something to someone or something". "A lot" is different because it means "a large number/a sizeable amount".

I sometimes wonder how this strange union happened. I can't imagine people writing "abiscuit", "adog" or "alatte". Why did "a lot" get singled out for this maltreatment?

But wait, there's more. Blow me down if this habit isn't increasing! Other word pairs are being brought together into incorrect unions.

The worst offenders appear to be "every day" and "everyday". To put it simply, they both exist but differ in meaning. Despite that, people appear to be doing away with the two-word version, even though they may in fact be writing something quite silly.

"Everyday" means ordinary or humdrum. "Every day" means on each day. Simple. Look at the difference: Sample A: Everyday people annoy me. Sample B: Every day people annoy me. Worth making the distinction, don't you feel?

The same happens with "a part" and "apart": compare "I am happy to have been a part of it" with "I am happy to have been apart." "Altogether" and "all together" provide yet another example. Even "into" and "in to" are different. Gets confusing, doesn't it!

Other common offenders are "incase", "awhile", "everytime", and "abit". I've even seen a message which opened with, "What've you been upto?"

If you want to eliminate these errors in your own communication, I see a way out. Avoid writing completely and just deliver your communication orally. Nobody will notice.

In all of this, of course, I am not talking about portmanteau words where two words successfully become one. "Blog", for example, comes from "web" and "log"."Glamping" comes from "glamour" and "camping". Just ask Lewis Carroll where "slithy" came from (I suspect "lithe" and "slimy").
And where would modern communication be without "emoticons"? Taking two existing words and combining them to create a new one is not at all like "alot". Portmanteau words are a completely different kettle of fish (will that become "kettleoffish"?).

And so to a completely different sort of double-banger. I'm sure most of you will share my distaste for the emails that bombard you with interminable "offers". "Click here" they might invite. Don't.

Many of you probably do what I do and blacklist them. That way, they'll never pester you again. Well, last week I was told that my blacklist facility was full and that I would need to remove some to make room for more.

So I had a bit of a clear-out and once again started blacklisting unwanted emails. Then came the double-banger.

I went through the usual process waiting for the expected confirmation that my newest blacklist had been successful. But what came up surprised me. It said something along the lines of, "This address is already on your blacklist."

Which of course begs the question, "Why did I receive a second email from a blacklisted address?"

Possible answers:

"It won't happen alot."

"It won't happen everyday."

Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, musician and public speaker.