poll: Is there a word in the English language spelt "alot" or is it really two words, "a lot"??

Is "spelt" a word? I use "spelled" alot.. but I see "spelt" used a lot of the time too. I know what poptarts are, but don't have an inkling what food a toaster is...however, I OWN a toaster but I doubt that's what you are referring to. People from Chicago are misleading....

This question garnered 25 answers prior to my own, yet not one respondent answered using both correct spelling AND anything close to proper grammar. Most, of course, didn't try for either. <sigh> Yes, language is mutable (meaning it changes over time), but that doesn't mean "anything goes," simply because a given person doesn't know better & is too lazy to learn.

Still, at least those folks generally admit what they're up to, and acknowledge that they simply don't care whether or not their usage is correct. It's truly amusing reading the other kind: those haughty (that means "stuck up") individuals who self-righteously castigate (that means "put down") others about spelling errors, yet are themselves apparently either unwilling or unable to express a full, coherent thought; let alone compose so much as one complete sentence. Congratulations, y'all*, you've managed to demonstrate a level of ignorance+arrogance so profound that even the "It got corrupted into two words" dummy seems intelligent by comparison.

In closing, here are some tips that'll prove helpful should you ever need/want to write like a grown-up:

1) Capitalize the 1st word of each sentence, and end it with some sort of punctuation, such as a period or question mark.

2) The word "its" means something belongs to "it." If you're trying to say "it is," you need to add an apostrophe and write "it's."

3) A complete sentence (and, for that matter, a complete thought) has a subject and a predicate. There has to be a noun AND a verb, at least, or you're just listing words. For example, consider, "Two separate words." The 1st word is capitalized, and it ends with a period, but there's no verb, so it's not a sentence. It doesn't really make sense without a verb, does it? Now read, "It amazes me how many people don't use spell check." It has nouns; verbs acting on or by them; a subject & predicate; capitalization and punctuation, therefore that is a complete sentence. It's really fairly simple

Hope that helps. To learn more about writing sentences, do a Google search for "complete sentence." You don't even need to visit your local library or finish 1st grade!

*: The word "y'all" _has_ been accepted into the English language, but not simply because enough dummies used it enough times that "They" (i.e., the mysterious cabal whom many of you seem to think hand down decisions about what becomes a "real" word) just gave up and let it in. "Y'all," like many former slang/vernacular words that became official, fulfills a need. English previously lacked a 3rd-person plural, which is present in most other languages. The contraction of "you all" may not be especially elegant, original, nor considered classy, yet because it fills a gap in the language AND enjoyed prolonged common usage, it has joined our ever-expanding, ever-changing lexicon. Notice how that makes logical sense. That's the difference between proper use of a growing language and just making things up because you don't know better.

Yes, I agree. Even in Canada we say that Americans don't speak the same language. We all have different meanings for things. Another example is the french spoken in Paris is very different from that spoken in Quebec, Canada. I think we all make a variation of English. I still believe that the British speak true English! ♥D

It is two different word and I believe a lot of people do not use the spell check. Pop tarts...Love, honey

When I was growing up, alot was spelled alot. In recent times, it has been corrupted to a lot. I remain faithful to alot. There are too many words that have gone through change which are uncalled for and that I do not like.

it is 2 words a lot. and pop tarts!

Usage dictates correctness. I believe "alot" has foiund its way into the proper vernacular of the English language, with Webster's grudging but nevertheless resounding "okey dokey." If it hasn found its way into the dictionary yet, I predict it will, soon.

there is no "alot" in the englsh language, but there is "a lot". I like pop tarts better.

I always run them together, it sounds like 1 word when you say it! Most likely though it's a lot.

Por tarts...brown sugar & cinn.

It's most definitely -spelled- "a lot": as two words.

And I prefer Pop Tarts. (: