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Words That Don't Mean What You Think They Mean: CONTINUALLY vs. CONTINUOUSLY

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.



Both words come from the root continue, but they mean very different things. 

Continuously means never ending. Hopefully your efforts to develop yourself are continuous, because you never want to stop improving yourself.

Continual means whatever you're referring to stops and starts. You might have frequent disagreements with your partner, but unless those discussions never end, then those disagreements are continual.

The former should never, ever stop, and the other (mercifully) should.

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