Why would someone insist that "alot" is a word and call me a dummy for saying it isn't?

@auris What is that supposed to mean?

@Bewilderbeeste The bottom up nature of it.

@auris I won't ask what that's supposed to mean, I'm sure it's something vulgar.

@Bewilderbeeste It is not. It means it is not a top down language where intellectuals and academics decide what is or isn't. For exemple there is no governmental laws that decide what english is.

@auris Maybe not literally governmental laws, but we have a dictionary which serves as the board of "intellectuals and academics who decide what is or isn't".

@Bewilderbeeste It is not the same

@auris It's near enough. If the dictionary doesn't decide what's right or wrong in English, what does?

@Bewilderbeeste General public consensus. If the general public consensus that a word is in fact a word then it is a word and can be add to the dictionary.

@auris I don't know who told you that, but it certainly wasn't my old English teacher.

@Bewilderbeeste Quoting wiki

Historically, a standard language arises in two ways: (i) in the case of Standard English, linguistic standardization occurs informally and piecemeal, without formal government intervention; (ii) in the cases of the French and Spanish languages, linguistic standardization occurs formally, directed by prescriptive language institutions, such as the Académie Française and the Royal Spanish Academy, which respectively produce Le bon français and El buen español.

@auris None of the above makes "alot" a valid word.

@Bewilderbeeste No but the over use of it can be use to justify it becoming a word. Stuff like this has happen many times in history.

@auris Not where I live.

@Bewilderbeeste Impossible

@auris Why is it impossible? If we have no reason to accept a "word" as valid then we don't accept it. It's that simple.

@Bewilderbeeste indeed such is the nature of english

@auris Not the English I learned in school.