all-too-common
Meaning
Used to describe something that happens or exists so frequently that it is regrettable, predictable, or unremarkable.
Usage
The report highlighted the all-too-common problem of data breaches in the industry.
It was an all-too-common story of a promising startup failing due to lack of funding.
She expressed frustration at the all-too-common delays in public transportation.
Etymology
The adjective "common" originates from the Latin communis, meaning "shared by all or many, public, general". The intensifying phrase "all too" is a native English construction, with "all" used as an adverb to mean "wholly, completely" and "too" meaning "excessively". The fusion of these elements into the hyphenated compound "all-too-common" is a relatively modern development, emerging to succinctly express a critical societal observation. It captures the logic of a shared experience (common) that is perceived as regrettably excessive (all too), thus evolving from a descriptive phrase into a standardized term for lamenting predictable, often negative, ubiquity.
Analysis
This is a hyphenated compound adjective formed from the fixed phrase "all too" and the adjective "common". The phrase "all too" functions as an intensifying adverb, and "common" is a Germanic-derived adjective. It is treated as a lexical unit and not segmented into smaller, independent morphemes.