Allie Brosh created the lovable creature we know as the alot, in order to cope with the very common mistake of making “a lot” into one word.
But there is one grammatical mistake that I particularly enjoy encountering. It has become almost fun for me to come across people who take the phrase “a lot” and condense it down into one word, because when someone says “alot,” this is what I imagine:
The world of the internet has seen the genesis of many fabulous creatures, but the alot has managed to successfully breed and proliferate across the virtual landscape better than most. It was introduced on April 13th, 2010. By April 18th, it had its own definition at Urban Dictionary. I believe there are two main reasons for the alot’s success.
1. The grammatical phenomenon of making “a lot” into one word strikes a chord with many internet users. This habit is common among English speakers, but is only obvious when typed. Therefore, the annoyance it brings flourishes naturally on the web, where the literate and semi-literate live side-by-side.
2. This creature is so ugly that it’s cute. Folks love that. Alot.
It wasn’t long before the t-shirts began to sell like hot cakes. And Brosch’s fans embraced the creature. Alot.
Isolde Honore made a hat alot. Such a clever disguise!
Seattle artist WednesdayWolf painted the Alot, and you can buy a print at Etsy.
Ravelry is a forum for knitters and crocheters. A subgroup on the forum called Knit Knack held a competition last May to recreate the alot. Ravelry is limited to members, but evidence of the project can be found elsewhere because the entries are so cute!
The winner was Maiya Mayhem, who named her creation Alot of Fun. See more pictures at her website.
Shanny, who organized the competition, made a needle felted alot.
Senor Mysterioso crocheted this fetching alot.
Mary pointed out that chickens eat alot.
Alot of Pink Saphire was part of a different Ravelry project, the Gringotts Wizarding Bank Heist. It’s enough to make me want to pull the yarn out of storage just so I can join this forum!
By June, people were baking alot. This alot cupcake was photographed by James Michael Heywood.
Arlyn Bantog posted her version in July.
In September, Travis Byrnes bought alot of Spam. With apologies to Monty Python, it’s a “spam alot”.
In October, DeviantART member loveandasandwich showed us her version of the alot, made by hand with lots of fur.
Alix was requested to make an alot by a friend, and came through with this awesome plush toy. See more pictures at her site Arixystix.
People began to spot the creature in the wild. This photo was submitted to Hyperbole and a Half’s Facebook page by Giovanna Alexis Urbina Anderson.
The creature was enshrined on The University of Waikato’s high-performance computing cluster called Symphony, seen here posing with Jessica Thompson.
Klara just began embroidering in late 2010, and she likes to embroider alot. She said as much in her stitching!
Reddit member Shynee made this one as a Christmas gift for a friend. She drew the pattern out on a piece of wrapping paper and cut up a half of a yard of fur. Fellow Redditor Allie Brosh dropped in to convey her approval.
Irina-Gabriela Rus received this handmade ornament as a gift. It adds alot to a Christmas tree!
The very few people who received handmade alots for Christmas can consider themselves to be appreciated. Alot. However virtual, the alot is in no danger of becoming an endangered species.
Comments (22)
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So long as nobody sends in pictures of Alot of trash in the garage or Alot of dirty diapers in the same vein as Alot of beer cans from the original.
I like this alot.
posted by Dave on 2-1-2011 at 10:10 am
I bet they have done just that, Dave!
Whew, this post turned out to be alot more than I expected.
posted by Miss Cellania on 2-1-2011 at 10:13 am
Just an FYI, the blog’s creator is Allie BROSH, which appears to be misspelled in your opening. Great post, though – I love her and her blog!
posted by MsJetson on 2-1-2011 at 10:47 am
I LOVE THE ALOT! He has become a joke between my fiance and I–so much so, he wanted to engrave “I love you alot” on my engagement ring… however, the band was too thin, so we couldn’t do it… :(
Still, we love the ALOT!
posted by Heather on 2-1-2011 at 10:57 am
funny that many of the recommended t-shirts had the typo:
http://www.zazzle.com/scientific_fact_t_shirt-235464877201342269
http://www.zazzle.com/did_you_give_this_alcohol_to_my_teen_2_shirt-235510187777160982
posted by vince L on 2-1-2011 at 11:21 am
reminds me of the round tuits I saw a few years ago…I’ll do that when I get “around to it”
posted by Wayne on 2-1-2011 at 12:06 pm
BEST POST EVERRRR. I love the alot (alot!) and I love Ravelry (I’m booradley, add me)and I love Monty Python and I love pointing out grammatical errors!
posted by bet on 2-1-2011 at 12:47 pm
A (very slightly) related thought:
One of my recent pet peeves is the use of “everyday” when a writer means “every day.” Let’s try an example: Every day people make millions of dollars. Everyday people make millions of dollars.
Anyone else bothered by that one?
posted by Betsy on 2-1-2011 at 2:13 pm
This has made my day!
posted by Jenni on 2-1-2011 at 2:28 pm
Then and than are issues to me…but that’s a whole ‘nother story. ;)
posted by Marci on 2-1-2011 at 3:08 pm
Awesome post. I wants a plush Alot now.
posted by Nihilady on 2-1-2011 at 4:35 pm
I thought this article was alright.
posted by Tom on 2-1-2011 at 5:45 pm
I, too, do not understand how words are created and am afraid of the process when I see it happening.
Seriously. what’s hard to understand here? The adverbial phrase “a lot” has, over time, been made into a solid in common usage. In the future, “alot” will be considered perfectly cromulent.
Get over it, prescriptivists.
posted by Bob on 2-1-2011 at 6:56 pm
My soul is embiggened by Bob’s comment.
Just know that I, I, am Everyday People.
posted by Mare on 2-1-2011 at 9:52 pm
I have an alot shirt. Strangely enough it was part of my 365 picture project a few days ago!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs246.snc6/179417_151443248244802_100001373842864_249548_4816222_n.jpg
posted by Mae on 2-1-2011 at 10:24 pm
@Betsy – That bothers me alot.
posted by Roger on 2-2-2011 at 1:37 pm
Brosch, please help the people who use ‘supposably’ rather than ‘supposedly’. These people make me crazy ALOT.
posted by Lizzybubbles on 2-3-2011 at 7:08 am
I’m glad you like my Alot of Pink Sapphire. :)
posted by Rachelle on 2-3-2011 at 12:38 pm
Rachelle, I like it alot!
posted by Miss Cellania on 2-3-2011 at 1:04 pm
Knit Knack represents!! Thanks for including our ALOTs!
posted by MaiyaMayhem on 2-3-2011 at 1:39 pm
Betsy, that has bugged me for a long time!
posted by Barbara on 2-3-2011 at 4:56 pm
Cupcake designed by Karen Hurley and photographed by James Heywood :)
posted by Karen on 2-6-2011 at 8:19 pm