Monday Muddle; about, a bout

For some reason, when a noun is preceded by the indefinite article “a”, people like to delete the space between them and turn them into adverbs or prepositions, for example. It’s a mistake seen frequently with “a part”, but also with other combinations. The most common example of the space elimination trend is “a lot”, but deleting that space doesn’t actually create a new word.

The same problem doesn’t seem to exist with nouns preceded by the indefinite article “an”.

Monday Muddle: about: (adverb) approximately, almost, in the opposite direction; in no particular direction; all around; (preposition) on the subject of; in the vicinity of; (adjective) nearby bout: (noun) contest, match; period of time, especially to deal with something (e.g. a bout of the flu) Often preceded by the indefinite article "a".