Bill,
    I was thinking about situations like "I own a lot, which I check a
lot." Or "I check a lot a lot." If we had a different spelling for the
adverbial use (which I hear as "alot," not "a lot" in the above
instances), I think it would better represent the way the structure
has evolved both phonetically and cognitively. I hear it and think of
it as a single word spelled as two.
   Of course, the written language is innately conservative in the classic
sense of that term. People will treat it as an error. Even as I type
this, the computer puts a red squiggly line underneath "alot" to cajole
me back.

Craig

 Craig,
>
> "Alot" just for the adverbial use ("I do that alot"), or also for the
> pseudo-determiner/quantity use? If the latter, it's hard to see why the
> "of" shouldn't be glommed in to yield "alotta." It's not like that's going
> to freak out people more than plain "alot" will.
>
> [Just for the record -- I like having both "all right" and "alright"
> available, since I think the distinction is useful; I can't see that kind
> of utility for "alot," but I also know that conscious calculations of
> utility have historically had about as much effect on the development of
> language and spelling conventions as have fluctuations in the availability
> of parsnips].
>
> Bill Spruiell
> ________________________________________
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Craig Hancock [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 5:42 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [BULK] Re: Usage question
>
>      I would add "alot" to the mix.
>      >
> Craig
>
> My preference is to give students knowledge and to let them make choices.
>> I
>> tell them that most educated writers (including the editors of almost
>> every
>> magazine, newspaper, and publishing house) use "all right" and not
>> "alright," but the latter is used by a minority of writers, and its use
>> may
>> be growing. They can use "alright" if they like, but they can expect
>> that
>> a
>> number of their readers may judge them on it. They might think twice
>> before
>> using "alright" in a college application essay or in a job application
>> letter.
>>
>> Language is democratic, and if enough people join the "alright"
>> bandwagon,
>> it will become accepted the way "another" and "altogether" are accepted.
>> Everyone is free to jump on that bandwagon, but it doesn't hurt to weigh
>> the
>> consequences.
>>
>> Dick
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Castilleja, Janet <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>>  If ‘another’ can be a word, why not ‘alright’?  I’m never marking this
>>> wrong again.****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Janet
>>>
>>
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