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Both "täglich" and "tagtäglich" means "every day". Is there any difference between the two?

From Duden:

täglich

  1. jeden Tag (vor sich gehend, wiederkehrend)
  2. (veraltet) alltäglich

and

tagtäglich

jeden Tag ohne Ausnahme

Is it the case that "tagtäglich" stresses more strongly the fact that it's every day, without exception?

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    I'm bold today and like to (partially) object to what Duden says here - 'alltäglich' is not at all outdated language in standing expressions like "Der alltägliche Trott" or "Der alltägliche Berufsverkehr".
    – tofro
    Feb 20, 2016 at 12:51
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    @tofro I think when Duden says "(veraltet) alltäglich", it means that this meaning is outdated, not that the word "alltäglich" is outdated. (I could be wrong, though)
    – boaten
    Feb 21, 2016 at 0:25

1 Answer 1

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There are differences in usage.

täglich translates to daily and is used much the same as in English.

Diese Zeitung erscheint täglich.
Die tägliche Zahnpflege sollte niemals vernachlässigt werden.

It is a neutral term that states that something happens every day or at an interval of once per day.

tagtäglich is similar, but has a touch of (possibly dull) routine, much like day after day (which could also be expressed as Tag für Tag in German).

Tagtäglich macht er sich auf den beschwerlichen Weg zu seinem weit entfernten Arbeitsplatz.
Ihre tagtägliche Arbeit bestand darin, acht Stunden lang denselben Handgriff zu wiederholen.

Or the example from duden

Es war tagtäglich dasselbe.

It does emphasise that there are no exceptions (unless they are explicitly stated) and that nothing ever changes in this routine.

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