I admit it: writers can be picky creatures. We see language in much the same way a carpenter sees his or her prized circular saw: a tool we wield to accomplish challenging tasks with a certain level of quality.
That’s why writers cringe … or even scream … when they encounter misuses of words. Every writer I know has his or her pet peeves. I have a collection of several pets, but one that really gets me riled up is the non-word, alot. Yes, I said non-word, because the ever-growing English language still does not recognize “alot” as a word. Nor should it.