All Together Now! Or Altogether Now?

The classic movie Airplane! plays on the similarity between the terms all together and altogether. In that film, the protagonist discovers that pressing the autopilot button is counterproductive. But when he explains this and uses the word altogether to mean entirely, his companions respond by echoing his words all together. And, lo, we immediately see why all together and altogether can cause headaches for proofreaders.

Still not sure exactly why this mix up is a problem? Then check out our editing advice on how the terms all together and altogether should be used in writing.

Altogether (Entirely)

Altogether is an adverb meaning entirely or all things considered. It could be used like this:

I stopped making spelling errors altogether after watching Airplane!

I’m altogether disappointed with the quality of comedy films since 1980.

If you see this word in a document you’re editing, then, make sure it fits in context. And if you see anyone using the two-word phrase all together to mean entirely, feel free to correct it.

All Together (All at Once or As a Group)

Meanwhile, all together is an adverbial phrase meaning in a group. It could be used like this:

I keep my Leslie Nielsen DVDs all together on one shelf.

As such, with this phrase, make sure it always refers to ‘all’ of something being ‘together’ (i.e. in a single place or happening at the same time). And if you see anyone using altogether to mean in a group, you’ll need to make an edit accordingly.

We looked for other instances of word confusion in well-known parody films, but we couldn’t find anything suitable. Anyway, Shirley this is enough to be getting on with?