Tricky Words: A Lot/Allot, Akin/Kin
Recently, I found a major spelling error in an article written by a highly respected journalist in a popular online news publication (to remain anonymous). The error was an unusual one: “ablistering.” Most likely, it was a typo, but there’s another possibility.
Connecting the article “a” to the front of another word is a fairly common mistake, especially as major companies have complicated our sense of spelling by jamming vowels before words to create new products (think of a lowercase I before nouns that start with P).
So, here’s a lot about “alot” and a few kindred terms with A in the forefront, including hints about how I tell them apart.
A Lot of Meaning
The two-word phrase “a lot” is sometimes a noun, and sometimes an adverb. However, it always means a large amount or to a high degree.
Hint: think of the real estate definition of lot: one large parcel of land ready for a new building. Parcel is singular; hence, it uses the article “a.” A lot has plenty of space to fill because it is large enough to build a house on. In other words, a lot is a lot of land.
She scored a lot of candy trick or treating. (noun)
“That is a lot to deal with,” said the distraught survivor of the devastating fires. (noun)
This house is a lot cheaper than the last one we looked at. (adverb)
Allot: The Word We Sometimes Mean
Writing programs often fix our mistakes. Sometimes, though, that rascally autocorrect changes the word to “allot” when we don’t want it to.
Allot is a verb that means to give out portions of something or distribute predetermined amounts of something.
Hint: look at the word “all” in the beginning. All of whatever you have will be given away.
The committee will allot one 3X6 table to each club for the event.
The lawyer allotted equal amounts of money to each of the deceased’s family members.
It’s a good idea to allot five minutes or less to each problem on the exam.
Akin and Kin
This word pair can cause lead-in-letter-A confusion, so I’ll go out of alphabetical order.
Kin is a noun that primarily means relatives, ancestors, and/or those related through blood or marriage. You know—family. However, its meaning can be expanded to things that are related through category or similarity. Kin is a group noun; therefore, it is never preceded by the letter A.
Hint: kin means family or related group, so think of it as mirroring the three letters of mom and dad (and the shortened sis, bro, and cuz).
My parents limited the guests to kin, making it a strictly family event. (relatives)
Farce and commedia dell’arte are theater kin. (category)
Akin often gets confused with the no-A kin. Akin is an adjective and describes a relationship between two items that can be but might not necessarily be related or associated. It is almost always followed by the word “to.”
Hint: think of akin as a near substitute for “like”; both words have four letters.
Not telling the truth is akin to lying.
After holding the puppy, she felt something akin to motherhood.
A Lot: Some History
One of my high school teachers, let’s call him Mr. W, became a colleague when I joined my alma mater’s English department. Back when we students submitted papers on actual paper, Mr. W was notorious for a particular pet peeve: spelling a lot as one word. If he found the offense on a student’s paper, he’d underline the entire offending sentence and scribble “Rewrite” across the top. Often, students didn’t understand what they had done wrong and had to ask him to reveal the mistake that had been flagged. Mr. W’s peeve soon became public information students telegraphed to each other each year.
Disclaimer: I can neither confirm nor deny that I received a rewrite notice from Mr. W.