“The website is growing everyday.”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders

I saw this in an email message.

Problem:
“Everyday” is an adjective, but an adverb is required here.

Explanation:
“Everyday” tells you what. For example, an “everyday occurrence” is something that occurs daily. In other words, “everyday” is an adjective; it modifies a noun (such as “occurrence”).

In contrast, “every day” tells you when. For example, “It happens every day.” The goal of the email message writer is to tell the reader when the website is growing.

Solution:
“The website is growing every day.”

“echo back”

Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Self-negation, Verbs

I heard this in a conference call.

Problem:
The adverb “back” in “echo back” is redundant.

Explanation:
The verb ” echo ” means to return a signal or message, so the meaning of “echo back” would be to return back [sic] a signal or message.

The “re” in “return” means back. Therefore, one could argue that something that “echoes back” would never reach the original sender.

Solution:
“echo”

“Second of all,”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders

My wife heard this on the radio.

Problem:
The phrase “Second of all,” sounds strained and is otherwise problematic.

Explanation:
The phrase “First of all,” is a popular way to introduce an enumeration because “of all” stresses that one is about to provide an enumeration. For example, First of all, I don’t like beef. stresses to the listener or reader that there will be an enumeration and that what followed “First of all,” was the first item (“I don’t like beef.”) in the enumeration.

Following a use of “First of all,” with a use of “Second of all,”

  • sounds strained,
  • reduces the power of “First of all,” by making the listener or reader wonder whether every item in the enumeration will include “of all”, and
  • does not add anything to saying or writing “Second,”.

Note that it is not appropriate to introduce the second item in an enumeration with the adverbial form “Secondly,” (just as “Firstly,” is not appropriate for beginning the first item in an enumeration).

Solution:
“Second,”