Martha Knew She Shouldn’t Spike Father Michael’s Punch, but She Did It Anyway: Making the Right Connections…or Not
The members in my writers critique group catch mistakes with the accuracy of word accountants. I am grateful for this. It’s not that I don’t know the difference between everyday and every day, but I’m more focused on writing and meeting my daily self-inflicted word count than getting everything down correctly in my first draft. But there are some words I constantly misuse, and my spell-check fails to pick them up. So for my benefit, and perhaps yours (and the members of your own writing group), I’ll discuss them briefly:
Every day vs. Everyday. Every day means each day; every is an adjective that describes the noun day. Everyday is an adjective that describes something that is commonplace.
Every day I wear my everyday tennis shoes when I hose the bird droppings off my patio.
Every one vs. Everyone. Every one means each individual person or item in the group, whereas everyone is a collective pronoun referring to a group of people.
Every one of you who is caught in the speed trap on Tricky Road will be issued a ticket.
Everyone will benefit from knowing about the speed trap on Tricky Road.
Any way vs. Anyway. Any in any way is an adjective modifying a noun, meaning any matter, reason, or method.
Violence against another person is wrong, any way you look at it.
Anyway is an adverb meaning in spite of, despite, or regardless.
Martha had one too many at the church bazaar and knew she’d regret spiking Father Michael’s punch, but she did it anyway.
All Ready vs. Already. All ready means completely prepared.
I’m all ready to take the test. (But perhaps, in this case, all is a needless word that can be omitted—either you’re ready or you’re not.)
Already is an adverb meaning something that has happened before, or happened sooner than expected.
The giant pizza was delivered fifteen minutes ago and it’s already gone!
Finally: Any More or Anymore.
I don’t drink triple-latte mocha Frappuccinos any more because the sugar and caffeine keep me awake at night.
In this case any more means no longer. If you substituted anymore for any more, your meaning would be the same, but many grammarians feel anymore should not be used in formal writing.
The next time I meet with my writers’ critique group, I’ll be handing out a newly completed manuscript. Of course I’ll read it one more time beforehand and do my best to catch errors the spell-check missed. Just in case, I’ll be giving each reader a brand new red pen.
