Between email, text messaging, blog comments, and other forms of social media, the rules of the English language have taken a serious beating over the last few years. Punctuation is out, abbreviations are in, and many Americans, including some marketers, are having a hard time putting together a decent sentence.

What’s the big deal? Stick with me. There’s a larger point.

I’ve read in several places, including this blog, that, when engaging in social media, we needn’t be as concerned with the formalities of the language. Maybe. But I lean toward the belief that, when presenting your company to the public through your marketing copy, it’s always important to make sure you’re using the language properly.

That brings me back to one of my pet peeves: the improper use of the adjective “everyday” and the phrase “every day.”  (Read my first post on this subject here.)

I know I should take up a more exciting hobby, but over the last few years I’ve collected examples of this misuse. Here are just a few:

Here’s the rule: “Everyday” (one word) is an adjective. Example: These are my everyday shoes.

“Every day” (two words) is an adverbial phrase. Example: I go to work every day.

And here’s the larger point I promised. True, many people won’t notice if you’ve made the error, but many people may. Those who do might wonder, “If this company is careless about the messages it puts in front of the public, what other details do they ignore when no one is looking?”

Is that really the question you want prospective customers asking themselves after reading your marketing copy?

The word ‘everyday’ seems to be everywhere lately, but in all the wrong places.

In the last few weeks, I have seen the word ‘everyday’ used incorrectly on the menu of a regional restaurant chain (“Our lunch specials are just $6.95 everyday”), on the binding of a pad of notebook paper (“Value Plus. Your Best Value…Everyday”), on a digital billboard for a local newspaper, on a P-O-P sign at a national pizza chain, in a script for a TV commercial, on a T-shirt, and twice on the homepage of a website.

According to the book Common Errors in English Usage:

“Everyday” is a perfectly good adjective, as in “I’m most comfortable in my everyday clothes.” The problem comes when people turn the adverbial phrase ‘every day’ into a single word. It is incorrect to write “I take a shower everyday.” It should be “I take a shower every day.”

At BusinessVoice the words we write for our clients are most often heard, not read, but if you’re going to print or online with new marketing copy, remember to run it past several pairs of qualified eyes.