Right Away or Immediately? | right away immediately
Withoutstudyingtherelativefrequencyofeachphraseastheyappearinwriting,myinstinctisthesameashis.Iheareachoneused,andIhaventnoticedonebeingusedmorethantheother.Inabusinessmemo,Iwouldexpect"Thechangestointoeffectimmediately,"soperhapsitsthemoreformalofthetwo.Iusedtoworkwithsomeonewhoused"directly.""Illgetworkingonthatdirectly."Ikindoflikedthatuse.(FWIW,IwasaBTQmisuseraswelluntilsomeonewhostudieddebateexplainedwhatitwassupposedtomean.)
Without studying the relative frequency of each phrase as they appear in writing, my instinct is the same as his. I hear each one used, and I havent noticed one being used more than the other.In a business memo, I would expect "The changes to into effect immediately," so perhaps its the more formal of the two.
I used to work with someone who used "directly." "Ill get working on that directly." I kind of liked that use.
(FWIW, I was a BTQ misuser as well until someone who studied debate explained what it was supposed to mean.)