It's so freakin' simple!

[Ouch!]

Yes but alright, as D said, is a word, whereas alot is not. It's a bad comparison.

[Raistlin]

What? "All right" and "alright" sound exactly the same, just like "a lot" and "alot" do.

Ok, attribute it to general laziness, then, or my vernacular.

[rubah]

Why not just start saying "Aite" instead?

[Raistlin]

fo shizzle

[nik0tine]

fo shizzle

Psshht. Fo shizzle my ass grizzle. (In other words, no.)

[Lady Fidela of Confide]

Are our schools really so horrible that they can't teach children such basic things?

Some schools are that horrible. My Secondary School in Solihull stopped giving the pupils spelling tests and grammar lessons at the age of twelve or thirteen. Many of these pupils had problems with writing even the simplest of words as a consequence. If this is the case in other places it comes as no surprise to me that many people can't spell. Is it just me or did anybody else suffer a premature end to these lessons?

[rubah]

Is it just me or did anybody else suffer a premature end to these lessons?

Yep. We haven't had very many actual grammar lessons in high school at all. Our grammar books just sorta sit unused.