Everyday is not every day

Mailer from my Congressman: “Eliot Engel works everyday in Congress…”

No. He doesn’t.

“Everyday” is an adjective. “Every day” is a noun modified by an adjective. What kind of day? Every day. What kind of day? An everyday kind of day.

Congressman Engel: He works for you, not for the English language.

3 comments

  1. Joseph O'Brien says:

    Thanks for the heads up. We try not to be pedestrian. And it is encouraging that you read it. (I’m the Director of Comunications for the Congressman, NOT the campaign. But still… I would send you my governmental e-mail address but your site doesn’t accept e-mail addresses with apostrophes )

  2. Deborah Lipp says:

    Hi, Joe, thanks for showing up! Congressman Engel didn’t lose my vote over this gaffe, but I regularly write about language.

  3. Wiccan says:

    How you can know that I just thonk about it and ask my english teacher? Heh. I always wrote “everyday” and I didn’t knew that “every day” is correct.