Re: [Groff] Spelling Tip

[Keith MARSHALL]

Blake McBride wrote:
> While we are on the subject of pet peeves, the thing that irks me
> is the use of 'alot' which isn't a word.  It should be 'a lot'.
> You know, I like ice cream a lot.

Indeed.  My English teacher would even have said that one should
avoid `a lot' -- `I like ice cream very much' whould have been her
preferred form.  But, perhaps that is being just too `toffee nosed';
`a lot' seems perfectly acceptable in modern idiomatic usage.

Another, similar mistake which I see cropping up occasionally, is
the contraction of `no one' into `noone', which also isn't recognised
as a word, by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Regards,
Keith.