# An everyday complaint about "everyday" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534 "2014-04-07T08:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/41 "2014-04-09T20:44:32Z")
I blame spellcheckers. Many years ago I probably knew every day from everyday, whether it’s a lot or alot, but after awhile I go with what the spellchecker keeps insisting. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/42 "2014-04-09T20:51:49Z")
Yeah, I had to almost literally arm-wrestle the spell-checker to get it to accept my use of “themself” at the end of the third sentence beginning with “Perhaps” in my post immediately above yours. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/43 "2014-04-09T20:55:04Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I blame spellcheckers. Many years ago I probably knew every day from everyday, whether it’s a lot or alot, but after awhile I go with what the spellchecker keeps insisting. For me, the fault lays more with auto fill then with spellcheck.:dubious: It is easy to screw up lie and lay, but the then/than confusion? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/44 "2014-04-09T21:00:06Z")
I can’t understand the confusion between were and where. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/45 "2014-04-09T21:43:50Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Here is an example: “Great savings everyday!” Sorry. No. That’s not correct. Okay. Sure. Maybe your customers do save a lot shopping at your store instead of your competitors’. The issue isn’t the veracity of your claim. The issue is your inability to write the language correctly. > > Oh, yes. I did contact the perpetrator of that example. The response was that it is quite obvious that I am the one unaware of correct English usage. I guess this is it. The “dumbing down of America” has reached the saturation point. Um, just out of curiosity… where did you see that? My employer’s tagline uses the words “Every Day” and I need to know if I need to contact someone in corporate communications. (Just checked our website: “Save Big Every Day!” Whew.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/46 "2014-04-09T21:44:48Z")
> [@Athabasca](#): > > For me, the fault lays more with auto fill then with spellcheck.:dubious: > It is easy to screw up lie and lay, but the then/than confusion? WTF? Depends on what your accent is. You probably don’t confuse sit and set, but in someplace those two words are pronounced the same. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/47 "2014-04-09T22:16:45Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Um, just out of curiosity… where did you see that? My employer’s tagline uses the words “Every Day” and I need to know if I need to contact someone in corporate communications. > > (Just checked our website: “Save Big Every Day!” Whew.) The Exchange (formerly AAFES) is the original culprit. A few days ago, while I was in downtown Beijing, I saw the same slogan on a small store catering to us foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/48 "2014-04-10T00:44:17Z")
Nobody seems to know the word “peek.” They all think it’s “peak.” “Sneak peak.” “Take a peak at this.” ARRGH ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/49 "2014-04-10T00:49:10Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Nobody seems to know the word “peek.” They all think it’s “peak.” You have peeked my curiosity. Tell me more. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/50 "2014-04-10T05:40:04Z")
I fear the “chomping at the bit” war was lost long ago. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/51 "2014-04-10T07:00:23Z")
Has anyone been seeing “tow the line”? Make me feel like I am drowning in others’ ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/52 "2014-04-10T08:21:10Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Has anyone been seeing “tow the line”? Make me feel like I am drowning in others’ ignorance. Pretty often, even if it’s not an everyday occurrence. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/53 "2014-04-10T08:24:05Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I can’t understand the confusion between were and where. I can’t understand why seemingly everybody these days, including people who are paid to write stuff good, confuses horde and hoard. Not that the notion of would-be terrorists amassing a horde of guns isn’t terrifying a prospect, but… ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/54 "2014-04-10T13:22:34Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > That’s what’s known as the greengrocer’s apostrophe. If they had simply written burritoed or burritod, there’s a possibility for ambiguity where a reader believes this is an entirely new word in its own right, while burrito’d calls attention to the fact that it is a clitic and in this instance, should be parsed as the past participle of the verb to burrito. I’ve always understood a greengrocer’s apostrophe to be as used in “tomato’s”. Not that it has to be vegetables, but I’ve never seen the term applied outside of plurals. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/55 "2014-04-10T13:47:22Z")
Well, a greengrocer probably wouldn’t need to disambiguate any clitics besides the plural 's. My intent was to show that the function and format are equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/56 "2014-04-10T13:56:46Z")
I’m still positive that I learned the word (or non-word) “alot” in a spelling book in elementary school. Where “alot” meant “often” and “a lot” meant “many”: eg. “He goes to the gym alot” and “There are a lot of weights there”. I know now that’s incorrect and probably just made it up in my little-kid mind. I still can’t figure out “Workout”. I have a flow chart in my cubicle that says “Should I Workout Today?” - yes - “Go Workout”. It seems like it should be “Work Out”, but that looks weird. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/57 "2014-04-10T16:46:53Z")
This all sounds familiar. I used to bicker with an attorney I used to work for over similar grammatical issues. It’s: “Please go and pick up the signed documents.” Not: “Please go and pickup the signed documents.” In vain I’d try to point out that “pickup” is either an adjective that describes a truck or a noun referring to the truck itself. Alternatively, it could be a noun and referred to a person you met at a bar for a one-night stand. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/58 "2014-04-11T15:37:27Z")
And don’t get me started on people who use ‘‘lightening’’ instead of ‘‘lightning.’’ ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/59 "2014-04-11T17:24:59Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I still can’t figure out “Workout”. I have a flow chart in my cubicle that says “Should I Workout Today?” - yes - “Go Workout”. It seems like it should be “Work Out”, but that looks weird. I would use “work out” for both of those verbs, and “workout” as a noun (“What a workout!”). But I don’t really care what you do. I’m surprised at the relative lack of the “language evolves, you old shrivs” type of comments in here! ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534/60 "2014-04-11T17:43:29Z")
> [@MrSquishy](#): > > I would use “work out” for both of those verbs, and “workout” as a noun (“What a workout!”). But I don’t really care what you do. While we’re at it, let’s talk about “login” and “setup.” As a technical writer, I’m constantly having to fix these in instructions. “Setup” is a noun, or an adjective. (“When you finish setup, go to step 2” or “When you finish the setup tasks, go to step 2.”) “Set up” is a verb (“Set up the server, then go to step 2.”) Likewise “login”. You do not “login” to a computer. You “log in.” Using your login name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-everyday-complaint-about-everyday/685534.md?page=4)