Give Me Everytime Every Time!
I'm like a distressed lion, or a confused Koala; you see the thing is; some thing, can be turned to something, all ways, can be turned to always, and some times into sometimes, every thing can be turned to everything.
So why oh why do I still get that red squiggly line when I try and turn every time into everytime? I mean we even pronounce it as one word, so why not write it as one?
How do words develop; how do two words become one? Who decides these things?!
The Evolution Conundrum
The science in which syntax, language and meaning shifts, changes, and evolves over time (overtime, hmmm, different meaning), is called etymology and it has been a subject that has fascinated me for a long time (longtime), in that I often sit and ponder on why and how a word evolves over time.
Lately in particular, I have been musing over why some words can be added to the words 'thing' and 'time', and some cannot.
Whilst this minor malaise may not (maynot, there's that squiggly line again), trouble the average person on the street. It bothers me; I write thousands of words per week, and as I type I like to find shortcuts (short cuts) to ease the process.
A short cut that I often use, yet am told via the spellcheck red squiggly line, that it's incorrect, is the word everytime.
You see! Well, you won't because it only pops up when you're editing a document in Word, or as in this case, Draft. I am told that the word everytime is not a word, but why the hell not!?!
Grrrrrr.
I mean, it clearly has nothing to do with the word every, because everything is fine when you type everything.
Also it can't be because of the word time, because sometime is considered fine. So both the words, every and time can be conjoined with other oft used words to make a new compound word, mostly carrying exactly the same meaning.
Except of course in an example used above, over time, and overtime, can mean two different things.
Do you think that over time, you can come to love me?
Or
I want to work overtime next week and earn double my wages.
However:
Some time in the future.
Means the same as:
Sometime in the future.
A Very Quirky Language
Could this be because of the fact that the English language is so wonderfully quirky? The language could almost claim to be a hybrid language.
Or perhaps English is a magpie language; stealing shiny linguistic baubles from the other languages, for use in its own nest.
Maybe that's why words like every don't quite fit into an established lexicon?
In the words of Marge Simpson
Hmmmmmmmm
Give Me A Compound Everytime!
I give you a list of compound words starting with the word every, that are listed within the Oxford English Dictionary.
Everyday.
Everything
Everywhere
Everyone
Everybody
Everyplace
Everyman
Everywoman
But
Not
Everytime!
Why????
....and breathe, relax, maybe the answer is out there in the Steem-O-Sphere, if not, if there is not one single credible argument. Then please, pretty please, with a cherry on top, whomsoever is responsible for making these things so . . .
DO IT ALREADY!!!!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMPOUND OR NON-COMPOUNDABLE WORDS THAT FREAK YOU OUT AND HAVE YOU ASKING WHY THE RULES ARE WRITTEN JUST SO? AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Here is everything
I very much like the analogy of the English language being like a greedy magpie!
Beady eyes darting about before focusing on something shiny No! No don't do it! Thats not even a wor.. Triumphant magpie flying back to its tangled nest
It's not so much the strange compound word rules at times that gets me, its more the online spell checking program's disagreeing about different words.
Well, that and the variety of new terms and phrases that will hopefully not get added to the dictionary in the years to come.
"Turnt" "Fam" "Suh" "Woke" ect..
So fear not! In the years to come, the English language will, as always, do its best to appall you.
Maybe some english scholar can help out.
The English language is simple, yet it is ambiguous.
Ha! Reading your list I see a difference.
Those words mean different things. I don't know the grammatically correct terms but it's like the difference between verbs and nouns.
Everyday for example. I use my toothbrush every day is different from it was an everyday sort of toothbrush. I don't know what the first use is but the second, being a description, is probably an adjective.
Everything. Every thing is beautiful refers to a collection of single things. I didn't know what to bring so I brought everything seems to imply all, possibly a collective noun.
I didn't even know that there was such a word as everywoman so I'm probably just talking out of my ass but given the comment competition you have running I thought it was worth a punt! 😁 😁 😁 😁
Ha! Well yes, in some instances they do mean different things, your first example was excellent, indeed everyday is used in different ways.
However everything is beautiful is just as grammatically correct as every thing is beautiful, perhaps the second way is a more antiquated way of saying it. However every time, is always everytime, unlike over time and overtime.
PS I didn't know about everywoman, and to be honest, I'm not sure it's Oxford approved, the word processing program I use Draft, does not give me a squiggly line when set to UK English, Chrome however does!
Cg
My vote is for Chrome then. Everywoman seems just plain weird. I suspect it's on account of the sexual equality police. Since Everyman is accepted we now have to also have everywoman. I like how Steemit gives them all a squiggly line. Mind you it also give itself a squiggly so maybe it's not the best judge!
This post might even generate some new meanings of it's own. I did a squiggly comes to mind! 😁
As far as I know, based on my insider knowledge of Hebrew and my readings about English - the process of the CREATION of new words is simple - they are just created by many ways, adoption from other languages (Beelzebub for example comes from Hebrew- בעל זבוב to those who can read Hebrew), they can be simply errors or they can be a compounding of two words, just like in our case here! (There are more, Google "how words are created"!).
Our question is actually essentially not how words are created but how are they added to the dictionaries, and well - according to Merriam webster (the site I personally use as a dictionary by the way) - the reason they are added is simply that they are used - if a word is integrated into every day conversations - it will, in the end, be considered a legitimate dictionary word and it will be added. (In Israel- there is an academy for the Hebrew language, they are deciding what is to become formal and they have meetings for the consideration of the acceptance of new words regularly !)
So - you can use "everytime every time - it's not really wrong - and if you'll make enough people to use it too, who knows - you might just make that red line to disappear :)
This is it, it is power to the people! I shall be bolder, in fact I shall start adding it to my various digital dictionaries, together we can kill the squiggly line :-)
Cg
The nuance of the English language is perplexing, to say the least!