Learn English – Is “almost only” a common phrase in English

Most, as an adverb, can be used informally to mean “almost”. In that sense, there is no difference in meaning between “most every” and “almost every”, except that the first one is informal.

I should add that the Corpus of Contemporary American English has 290 occurrences of “most every”, compared to 5027 for “almost every”. The second alternative is thus vastly favoured, at least in written American English.

In the British National Corpus, “most every” returns 4 occurrences, while “almost every” returns 788 hits. It thus confirms what commenters have said, that “most every” is a regionalism.

The word common has many meanings, among them

1. belonging to or shared by two or more people ⇒ common property
2. belonging to or shared by members of one or more nations or communities; public ⇒ a common culture
3. of ordinary standard; average ⇒ common decency
4. prevailing; widespread ⇒ common opinion
5. widely known or frequently encountered; ordinary ⇒ a common brand of soap
6. widely known and notorious ⇒ a common nuisance
7. (derogatory) considered by the speaker to be low-class, vulgar, or coarse ⇒ a common accent
8. (prenominal) having no special distinction, rank, or status ⇒ the common man

While the phrase as used in the quote appears to suggest meaning 8 (common humanity analogous to the phrase common man), the context indicates that it is actually being used contemptuously, as in meaning 7.

The speaker holds himself in advance of common humanity, that is superior to, or more evolved, having achieved a spiritual plane.