Hyperbole and a Half is one of my favorite blogs. And this post in particular made my day.
I have a BA in English and a JD. I understand that this combination of degrees requires a level of grammatical obsession that others would deem unnecessary (perhaps anal). But, degrees aside, I believe there is merit in communicating well and everyone should be concerned by the half-hearted attention to grammar bred by text messaging, emails, and facebook status messages.
Honestly, I can stomach the use of "u" instead of "you," in the context of informal messaging. I can even stomach a their/they're/there error as I can give the writer the benefit of the doubt that they were 1) sleep-deprived 2) suffering from low blood sugar and 3) in the middle of a fistfight (yes, all three are required).
But I cannot handle the "alot" error. I just can't do it. There is no way to justify its usage. It isn't an accident. It's a linguistic bloodbath. I consider myself a kind person, generous in many ways. But the "alot" mistake removes every ounce of said generosity and replaces it with a mixture of The White Witch and Voldemort.
So I appreciate Hyberbole and a Half's take on how to address this issue in a way that may allow me to nix the patronizing, steam-out-of-the-ears reaction to "alot" and instead live complacently in a world full of grammatical nightmares.
