Commonly Confused Words - A lot/allot/alot
Welcome to your Monday, fellow grammarians! Today we’ll be looking at a thorny little question about some words (or possible words) that are all spelled very similarly and sound alike when spoken. lanalucy asked us “What is the difference between ‘a lot’ and ‘allot’? Is ‘alot’ a word?” Let’s dig right into this with some help from our friends in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
First, we’ll start with a lot. Lot is a very versatile word, in that it can be used as a noun, a verb, and an adverb. It comes to us from the Old English hlot, which meant “an object used to determine someone’s share.” The object could be anything-dice and straw were commonly used, but it could be a chip of wood with a name written on it. This definition gives rise to the phrase to cast lots, a method of-you guessed it-determining one’s share.
Because of very similar words in a variety of other languages, including Old Norse, Old Frisian, German, and Dutch, other familiar definitions of lot became attached to the word. As a noun, a lot can be a plot or parcel of land, several items that are similar in nature sold together at an auction, a person or individual of a certain type, or a group of people.
A few examples:
“Willow, can you discover if anyone owns the lot next to the cemetery?” Giles asked. “Buffy said it was crawling with vampires.”
“Got it at an estate sale,” Spike said, offering Dawn the dagger. “An entire lot of different kinds of knives.”
“Vampires are a dirty lot,” Buffy said, then glanced around at the silence that greeted her words. “I’ve been listening to Giles too much,” she groaned.
And that brings us to perhaps the most common usage of lot; as a lot, it can be used adverbially to describe something done often or to a great extent. Instead of saying “too much” in that last example above, Buffy could have said “a lot” and it would have meant much the same thing. Lots is used similarly, and with “of” it can be used as lots of before a noun.
Giles pressed down hard on the back of Buffy’s hand, and she felt something snap into place in her wrist. She rotated it and there was no pain. “Wow, that feels lots better.”
“Buffy, you have lots of stakes,” Dawn pouted. “Why can’t I have just one?”
Lot isn’t often used as a verb nowadays; most of those duties have been taken over by allot. To lot or allot something-either land or objects-is to divide it into lots. Allot also means to appropriate or set something aside for a specific purpose.
“Buffy,” Giles said, “during tonight’s practice session, we will allot 20 minutes for developing speed, 10 minutes for sparring… and an hour for my recovery.”
Now we come at last to the odd man out here: alot. My word processor doesn’t like me typing alot as one word and immediately separates it into “a lot” for me; this gives me a clue as to its status, at least according to Microsoft. Also, when I tried looking alot up in dictionaries online, I was redirected back to entries for “lot.” So, no, it’s not really a word in the English language according to most of the sources available to us today-unless you’re living in the town in India called Alot.
However, our own ariestess recently wrote this editorial on an article dealing with alot and why we shouldn’t get all bent out of shape about other people using it. Common usage-how we use words every day-changes words and their meanings, sometimes only slightly but sometimes into something totally different. “A lot” morphing into alot is just another way things are changing. (Whenever I see alot now, I think of this entry of Hyperbole and a Half, and it makes things a lot better. For those of you wondering why we haven’t shared the alot with you before, we have! Our original post is here.)
There are a lot of definitions allotted to lot, which is part of what makes it so confusing. The best mnemonic I can give for a lot, allot, and alot is this limerick which appeared on Grammar Girl (the emphasis is mine):
A mistake that I often will spot
Is “alot,” but a word it is not.
Make your writing precise.
Take this friendly advice:
Please allot one small space in “a lot.”
Sources:
First, we’ll start with a lot. Lot is a very versatile word, in that it can be used as a noun, a verb, and an adverb. It comes to us from the Old English hlot, which meant “an object used to determine someone’s share.” The object could be anything-dice and straw were commonly used, but it could be a chip of wood with a name written on it. This definition gives rise to the phrase to cast lots, a method of-you guessed it-determining one’s share.
Because of very similar words in a variety of other languages, including Old Norse, Old Frisian, German, and Dutch, other familiar definitions of lot became attached to the word. As a noun, a lot can be a plot or parcel of land, several items that are similar in nature sold together at an auction, a person or individual of a certain type, or a group of people.
A few examples:
“Willow, can you discover if anyone owns the lot next to the cemetery?” Giles asked. “Buffy said it was crawling with vampires.”
“Got it at an estate sale,” Spike said, offering Dawn the dagger. “An entire lot of different kinds of knives.”
“Vampires are a dirty lot,” Buffy said, then glanced around at the silence that greeted her words. “I’ve been listening to Giles too much,” she groaned.
And that brings us to perhaps the most common usage of lot; as a lot, it can be used adverbially to describe something done often or to a great extent. Instead of saying “too much” in that last example above, Buffy could have said “a lot” and it would have meant much the same thing. Lots is used similarly, and with “of” it can be used as lots of before a noun.
Giles pressed down hard on the back of Buffy’s hand, and she felt something snap into place in her wrist. She rotated it and there was no pain. “Wow, that feels lots better.”
“Buffy, you have lots of stakes,” Dawn pouted. “Why can’t I have just one?”
Lot isn’t often used as a verb nowadays; most of those duties have been taken over by allot. To lot or allot something-either land or objects-is to divide it into lots. Allot also means to appropriate or set something aside for a specific purpose.
“Buffy,” Giles said, “during tonight’s practice session, we will allot 20 minutes for developing speed, 10 minutes for sparring… and an hour for my recovery.”
Now we come at last to the odd man out here: alot. My word processor doesn’t like me typing alot as one word and immediately separates it into “a lot” for me; this gives me a clue as to its status, at least according to Microsoft. Also, when I tried looking alot up in dictionaries online, I was redirected back to entries for “lot.” So, no, it’s not really a word in the English language according to most of the sources available to us today-unless you’re living in the town in India called Alot.
However, our own ariestess recently wrote this editorial on an article dealing with alot and why we shouldn’t get all bent out of shape about other people using it. Common usage-how we use words every day-changes words and their meanings, sometimes only slightly but sometimes into something totally different. “A lot” morphing into alot is just another way things are changing. (Whenever I see alot now, I think of this entry of Hyperbole and a Half, and it makes things a lot better. For those of you wondering why we haven’t shared the alot with you before, we have! Our original post is here.)
There are a lot of definitions allotted to lot, which is part of what makes it so confusing. The best mnemonic I can give for a lot, allot, and alot is this limerick which appeared on Grammar Girl (the emphasis is mine):
A mistake that I often will spot
Is “alot,” but a word it is not.
Make your writing precise.
Take this friendly advice:
Please allot one small space in “a lot.”
Sources:
- Grammar Monster
- The Grammarist
- Dictionary.com here and here
- Merriam-Webster here and here
- The Free Dictionary here and here
- Etymology Online here and here