A mistake made every day

Every day. Everyday. Every single day I come across English mistakes

made by professional communicators -- business people getting paid to

convey ideas effectively and professionally.

With the exception of rap musicians, pretty much everyone benefits

from speaking and writing well. But for business people -- from the

highest-level executive to entry-level support staff -- a good grasp

of the language can be critical. For one thing, in business, image is

everything. But, more important, good grammar lets a speaker or

writer get ideas across clearly and with effect.

Officially, that’s the reason I’m kicking off this new column,

“The Business of Language.” Off the record, though, I should admit

that grammar and spelling boo-boos make me nuts. I can’t help it. At

one point, probably as a copy editor for Business Wire, I crossed the

thin red line between casual observer of the language to red-faced,

card-carrying sergeant in the Grammar Gestapo.

It’s a bad attitude to have. By copping an attitude of superiority

when it comes to grammar, you’re basically inviting humiliation. The

best experts on the language are too smart to play smarty pants

because they know that it’s impossible to know everything. The

skilled copy editors at the Pilot and even the Los Angeles Times make

mistakes from time to time. Humility is the only way to go.

That said, don’t be surprised if at some point in the future I get

knocked on my fanny, either by making an egregious mistake or by

having my name on a column with someone else’s glaring grammar gaffe.

It’s pretty much inevitable that I’ll have to eat some crow.

Nonetheless, alternating weeks with Paul Clinton’s “Wall Street

West Column,” I’ll try to shed some light on my grammar gripe du

jour. For example, every day versus everyday, which I’ll get to in a

moment.

I’m no expert. I’m not even the most qualified person on the Pilot

staff to teach this stuff. I just hope to be able to present some

otherwise dry and tedious material in a way that makes it fun,

interesting and, most of all, useful for business writers.

Today’s sermon is for the ad wizard who plastered the nation with

billboards (is my militant snootiness showing?) announcing that their

flagship burger is just 99 cents “everyday.”

This is a really common mistake -- I see it everywhere -- but it’s

an easy one to avoid. “Everyday” is only used when it’s a modifier,

which in most cases means it’s an adjective. Your company might have

“everyday low prices” or “everyday values,” but it’s two words when

you’re referring to the days themselves. Thus, you have “low prices

every day,” “values every day.”

Without even delving into the subtleties of modifiers and things

like hyphenation, you can always get it right by simply asking

yourself, “Am I using it as an adjective?” Your business

correspondence will shine, and you’ll soon know the anguish I feel

every time I drive past these blasted billboards.

* Have a question about business writing or grammar? Write June

Casagrande at june.casagrande@latimes.com.