Get specific: Write better, grab readers

It’s my first week in journalism school.

The professor, a former newsman, is standing at the black board.
Picking up a piece of yellow chalk, he wrote these two phrases:
A lot
Alot

And he said:
“‘A lot’ is an open field, a plot of land, where they build new homes. Know this, new reporters: ‘A lot’ is a chunk of real estate. It has value, it costs money to buy, it costs money to build.”
Then he paused.
“‘A lot’ does not mean amount. It does not mean volume or frequency. There is not ‘a lot’ of money. We don’t have ‘a lot’ of time.”
And this word – he pointed: Alot
“Doesn’t exist. It’s not a real word.”

I sat there, all of 18, and wrote feverishly in my notebook:
I will not misuse a lot
I will not misuse a lot
I will not misuse a lot…

But I have.  A lot.

If I stick to my dear professor’s mantra, I see “a lot” misused…a lot.

• I see a lot of words in great writing; I see a lot of poor writing as well.
• Writing this article took a lot of time.
• There is a lot of trash in the bucket.
• I see a lot full of campaign signs – what a lot of cleverly worded promises!

And what about those folks whose job it is to track inventory?
Does that mean a lot of bubblegum is just sticky?

Fast-forward 25 years:
“Alot” is not in any dictionary; it is (still) not a word.
“A lot” is considered an idiomatic expression: Very many, a large number, very much.
The other ‘a lot’ is exactly that: A plot of land, with or without a building.

Is it wrong to use “a lot” a lot?
Not necessarily. The phrase is grammatically correct, but it’s generic. It is so over-used as to mean nothing, which was probably the point of my professor’s lesson: When time and space are scarce, precision carries the day. When the “true meaning” of any word or phrase is not clear, it’s time to use something else.

The best way to handle “a lot-itis”  is to use more detail. Instead of “a lot,” say how many, how much. An actual number is always more credible, but if that’s not an option, try to use a descriptive word or phrase.

Example:
When the dog ran away, Sarah drove around the neighborhood a lot.

Try this instead:
When the dog ran away, Sarah drove around the neighborhood
seven times/countless times/for three hours/until dark/while her son cried in the backseat.
(this last idea shows the emotional connection to a lost dog.)

Since “a lot” is synonymous with the idea of “big” or “many” here are some suggestions from the author of my favorite thesaurus.

large, huge, enormous, massive, mammoth,
whopping, monster, unlimited, countless, limitless, stout,
burly, husky, mountains of, loaded with, crammed with,
a huge selection of, multiple, lavishly

But it’s still a lot of bubblegum…