{"id":2591,"date":"2024-11-14T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T23:09:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T05:09:51","slug":"every-now-and-then","status":"publish","type":"expressions","link":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/","title":{"rendered":"Every now and then"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every now and then<\/h3>\n

All right, thanks JR. So there you have it, a purely objective opinion <\/span>. Don\u2019t just take my word for it <\/span>!<\/p>\n

The phrase I chose for today is \u201cevery now and then.\u201d It\u2019s very common in English. You might think you know what it means, but keep listening. The simple definition is \u201csometimes.\u201d The way you heard it was, Every now and then, you\u2019ll hear that some prominent person in American culture is Canadian. You hear that every now and then; you hear that sometimes. Justin Bieber is Canadian. Jim Carrey, the actor is Canadian. Pamela Anderson, supermodel. She\u2019s Canadian. Elon Musk is Canadian. It\u2019s not like every day of the week, you learn of some new popular person is Canadian. But you hear it sometimes.<\/p>\n

The thing about \u201cevery now and then\u201d is that it doesn\u2019t happen regularly <\/span>. Like, I get a haircut every three weeks. Three weeks go by, I get a haircut. Three more weeks, I get another haircut. I do not say that I get my hair cut every now and then because it happens regularly. Every three weeks.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a restaurant I like for breakfast called Reno. I go there every now and then. I might go there two weeks in a row <\/span>; not often, but I might. I might go twice in a month. Then, there\u2019ll be times where I don\u2019t make it for a few months. I go every now and then.<\/p>\n

The amount of time doesn\u2019t matter. I go to the dentist every six months. I would not say \u201cevery now and then.\u201d But every now and then, I\u2019ll see someone I know on the streets of New York. That might happen once a year, once in three years, who knows. Every now and then I\u2019ll fall asleep on my couch <\/span>. That happens a lot more often than once a year, I can promise you!<\/p>\n

Quote of the week<\/h3>\n

The quote of the week this week, to celebrate our two-hundredth episode, is about podcasting itself. Joe Rogan is a comedian and he\u2019s very well-known <\/span> in the podcasting community. And here\u2019s a quote from Joe Rogan about podcasting as a medium <\/span>. He said: \u201cThe beautiful thing about podcasting is it\u2019s just talking. It can be funny, or it can be terrifying <\/span>. It can be sweet. It can be obnoxious <\/span>. It almost has no definitive form <\/span>. In that sense <\/span>, it\u2019s one of the best ways to explore an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

I certainly agree, and over the last two hundred conversations I\u2019ve had with all of you, I\u2019ve certainly grown to like medium and the connection it allows us to have <\/span>. And with that, I\u2019ll leave it to JR to have the final word on episode number 200.<\/p>\n


\n

I want to say thank you to Jeff for always coming up with great topics <\/span> and great ideas and for always having a great attitude <\/span> with the whole Plain English team. And thank you to everyone who is with us every Monday and Thursday. I am so happy to do something that helps others who are learning English. I love reading all your emails telling us how much your English has improved. That\u2019s what makes this all worth it to us. Plain English will be here for the long run\u2014for as long as you find our podcast helpful. Every one of you is extremely important to us, whether you listen to only a few episodes or if you\u2019re with us every week. Thanks again. And by the way, Jeff forgot to say that Drake and Shawn Mendez are both Canadian, too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If something happens “every now and then,” it happens sometimes–but not regularly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"terminology_category":[139],"lesson_number":[392,2521],"keywords":[589,510,590],"content_tag":[],"level":[],"class_list":["post-2591","expressions","type-expressions","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","terminology_category-expression","lesson_number-392","lesson_number-2521","keywords-every","keywords-now","keywords-then"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEvery now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions<\/title>\n <!-- Mirrored from plainenglish.com/wp-json/wp/v2/expressions/2591 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:31:20 GMT --> <!-- Added by HTTrack --><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /><!-- /Added by HTTrack --> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"English expression: If something happens "every now and then," it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=https://plainenglish.com/"https:////plainenglish.com//expressions//every-now-and-then///" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Every now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"English expression: If something happens "every now and then," it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plain English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T05:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"27 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/\",\"name\":\"Every now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-14T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-21T05:09:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"English expression: If something happens \\\"every now and then,\\\" it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"A whiteboard has a written schedule and a series of post-it notes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Expressions\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Every now and then\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/\",\"name\":\"Plain English\",\"description\":\"Upgrade your English\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Every now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions","description":"English expression: If something happens \"every now and then,\" it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Every now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions","og_description":"English expression: If something happens \"every now and then,\" it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English","og_url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/","og_site_name":"Plain English","article_modified_time":"2024-11-21T05:09:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"27 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/","name":"Every now and then | Meaning in English | Learn about English expressions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png","datePublished":"2024-11-14T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-21T05:09:51+00:00","description":"English expression: If something happens \"every now and then,\" it happens sometimes--but not regularly. Listen to the free English lesson now at Plain English","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/expressions\/every-now-and-then.png","width":1024,"height":512,"caption":"A whiteboard has a written schedule and a series of post-it notes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/every-now-and-then\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Expressions","item":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Every now and then"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/","name":"Plain English","description":"Upgrade your English","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expressions\/2591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expressions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/expressions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"terminology_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/terminology_category?post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"lesson_number","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lesson_number?post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"keywords","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keywords?post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"content_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_tag?post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"level","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level?post=2591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}