Dee Dee > wrote:

>"Andy" <q> wrote in message ...

>> An attendant gathers them up and walks them to the
>> storefront every so often.

>Andy, is this word, as you used it, "every" a colloquism (sp?) in your
>region?

>I've heard so many say "every," in this context, as well as "ever," so I
>don't know which is a colloquism and which is not, at this point.

To me they are different phrases and neither is colloquial. I would
say "every so often" means occasionally, while "ever so often" means
frequently. "He comes to London ever so often" would mean the person
visits London more than most people do, or more often than one
might expect.

It's possible though that in the American south people might
say "ever' so often" to mean "every so often"; if so, then that
is colloquial.

Steve