Both 当たり前 and 相変わらず seem to mean "usual" or "ordinary". What's the difference between them?


What is the difference between [当たり前]【あたりまえ】 and [相変わらず]【あいかわらず】?  
They both seem to mean “the usual” or “ordinary”.




[当]{あ}たり[前]{まえ} means 'obvious' - something is exactly the way everyone ought
to expect it to be, and it's quite surprising that you're expecting it to be
something else. It can mean 'ordinary' in the right contexts - effectively the
above, just minus the surprise at your expectations.

[相変わらず]{あいかわらず} means 'same as ever' - something remains the way it's expected
to be, even if there might be a reason for it to have changed.

There are better ways to say 'usual' or 'ordinary':

[普通]{ふつう} - 'normal', 'usual'

[大抵]{たいてい} - 'normal', 'average' (especially of an occurrence; generally used
to talk about average things as a group rather than to say something is
average)

いつも(の) - 'usual', 'common' (「いつものことだ」~= 'happens all the time')

[一般]{いっぱん}([的]{てき}) - 'average', 'ordinary' (especially of a person;
[一般人]{いっぱんじん} 'normal person', 'civilian')




[当]{あ}たり[前]{まえ} means 'obvious' - something is exactly the way everyone ought
to expect it to be, and it's quite surprising that you're expecting it to be
something else. It can mean 'ordinary' in the right contexts - effectively the
above, just minus the surprise at your expectations.

[相変わらず]{あいかわらず} means 'same as ever' - something remains the way it's expected
to be, even if there might be a reason for it to have changed.

There are better ways to say 'usual' or 'ordinary':

[普通]{ふつう} - 'normal', 'usual'

[大抵]{たいてい} - 'normal', 'average' (especially of an occurrence; generally used
to talk about average things as a group rather than to say something is
average)

いつも(の) - 'usual', 'common' (「いつものことだ」~= 'happens all the time')

[一般]{いっぱん}([的]{てき}) - 'average', 'ordinary' (especially of a person;
[一般人]{いっぱんじん} 'normal person', 'civilian')

