I use good grammar alot

In keeping with the previous implicit theme of fusing two words into one, I'd like to comment briefly on 'alot.' This one, like 'alright,' is fairly common, but it, perhaps more so than the other, prevails chiefly in what might be termed 'substandard' writing. Burchfield notes this orthographical gaffe as a particularly American tendency, which, he asserts, appears primarily in our "informal correspondence" (i.e., letters, perhaps?). A grammar conscious friend of mine briefly attended a local technical college, but withdrew after three weeks under the grievance that "everyone at Tech spells 'a lot' as one word!" Yes: that would be disheartening.