anymore

anymore adv

1 rarely anymores; in positive contexts and initially: Nowadays. Note: In std usage anymore, like such words as any and ever, belongs to the class of “non-assertive” prons and advs, which are restricted to negative, interrogative and hypothetical contexts and to non-initial position. [A “positive” anymore appears in nIr and Scots dialect, but the meaning, appar infl by Gaelic idiom, is “from now on”—quite different from the sense illustrated here (cf EDD any 3(5), SND any more, and 1984 AmSp 59.318). Most likely the present idiom is by analogy with nowadays, which is more or less synonymous with anymore in its std non-assertive use, but is not restricted to such contexts (see 1975 AmSp 50.305–10).] scattered, but least freq NEng See Map (in use by speakers of all educ levels: see quot 1965–70)

1919 Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) 21 Feb 10/4, [Letter:] Since coming to this city [=Philadelphia] from Washington nine months ago I have noticed the use of several expressions quite foreign to my vocabulary. One of these is the use of “any more” in a sentence like this: “Mr. Banks manages the firm for Mr. Young any more,” meaning that Mr. Banks is the new manager. . . [Response:] Your query fairly makes us gasp for breath. The particular use of “any more” to which you refer is absolutely unknown to us, and the oldest Philadelphia native within reach of this desk proclaims himself read to affirm or to swear that he never heard of it. 1929 AmSp 4.304 IA, Recently a man of my acquaintance, deriding those patrons who professed a liking for the home-made variety [of ice cream], said contemptuously, “That’s all the more you know.” To which any one of the defense might characteristically have replied, “Any more I don’t like the boughten, and I used to like it so well.” 1931 AmSp 6.460 swWV, Recently I have heard a most peculiar use of the locution any more. . . [I]t is not confined to the illiterate but is used by teachers as well as shopgirls. Here are some sentences, used in actual conversation . . : People used to shop a lot in the morning, but any more the crowd comes in about three o’clock. . . Any more the high school pupils are such babies nobody goes to their entertainments. Ibid7.19 swPA, “Anymore I never see him.” . . “It’s quite warm anymore.” 1932 AmSp 7.233 MI, The “affirmative use” of any more . . is fairly common in Southwestern Ontario, in colloquial speech, and I have never heard it condemned as ungrammatical. . . I have since spoken to several friends all of whom tell me that the same usage is not unknown in this part [=Ann Arbor area] of Michigan. Ibid 235 cIL, In central Illinois (Dewitt County), where I grew up, sentences such as the examples given are commonly heard in colloquial speech. . . “We used to go to Weldon Springs for picnics, but any more we go to Salt Creek.” 1935 AmSp 10.160 cNY, It is reported from Elmira . . that ‘I like that any more’ means: ‘Now I like it, formerly I did not or was in doubt.’ 1939 AmSp 14.304 cSC, One student presented the sentence: ‘It rains here all the time any more.’ This sentence was reported from Orangeburg county, South Carolina, and other students from Allendale, Calhoun, Aiken, and Bamburg counties reported that they had at one time or another heard similar expressions. 1941 AmSp 16.19 IA, I heard a colleague of mine originally from this county [=Greene Co. IA] say, ‘They are making the booths that way for some reason any more.’ It sounded perfectly idiomatic to him. 1943 AmSp 18.141 NE, A Nebraska student, whose parents had lived in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Nebraska, when describing an Indian festival said, ‘It’s a sort of drunken brawl, anymore.’ 1944 AmSp 19.204 IN, Indiana may be added to the list of states in which the expression any more meaning ‘nowadays’ is heard frequently in affirmative, as well as negative, statements. 1945 AmSp 20.15, The evidence [from a survey of college students]. . may be analysed as follows: (1) Although the any more colloquialism is not unknown in the Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain areas, it is anything but prevalent there. (2) In the North Central area the idiom seems to be most common in southern Illinois and southern Indiana, but turns up in some parts of all other states except the Dakotas, Kansas, and Wisconsin. . . (3) In the Southern area, the positive evidence for Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina is somewhat tenuous, . . but there can be no question about the presence of the idiom in Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. (4) In the Middle Atlantic area the idiom is fairly well known, except possibly in the District of Columbia and in the Delmarva peninsula. The northernmost county of Delaware, together with the neighboring parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, seems to be a focal point. (5) In New York City, Long Island, the New England states, and Nova Scotia the idiom is apparently not in use. 1946 Stuart Tales Plum Grove 228 KY, Got so any more there isn’t enough good timber for a board tree. 1949 PADS 11.17 CO, “I wonder how fast I can type anymore.” “Anymore I wash my hair every Saturday night.” 1965–70 DARE (Qu. A26, . . “People used to walk a lot, but everybody drives a car _____.”) 110 Infs, scattered, but least freq NEng, Anymore; TX26, Anymore now; IL7, Anymores [Of all Infs responding to the question, 31% have grade-school or less educ, 38% hs, 31% coll; of those giving these responses, 45% have grade-school or less, 25% hs, 31% coll.]; (QR p108) Inf IA12, We all use night-crawlers anymore; (QR p77) Inf NC54, I meet so many people anymore; (QR p20) Inf PA70, Anymore it’s the living room. 1966–69 DARE Tape NC29, Most of the work anymore is done by power; IL11, Of course, we have two or three strip mines around this part of the country anymore; CA145, That’s the way I got it figured anymore; FL32, We put up quite a bit of hay here anymore. 1966–68 DARE FW Addit GA33, Anymore—in conversation very common for nowadays; TN17A, Used in conversation by country people, as in “He’s hard of hearing anymore;” neOK, “We use a gas stove anymore.” “My aunt makes hats all the time anymore.” 1976 Wolfram–Christian Appalachian Speech 105, While speakers who come from regions where anymore is only used in negative contexts may find the positive anymore rather obtrusive, native speakers of varieties where positive anymore is current tend not to view it as a socially diagnostic linguistic feature. 1980 DARE File Madison WI, Anymore we aren’t following terms as precisely as we used to. 2009 Hicks Beech Mt. Man 94 wNC, If you get in them bars, it’s rock and roll anymore—ain’t bluegrass or nothin’, ain’t even country.

2 Used alone to express agreement with a preceding statement.

1941 AmSp 16.19, The speakers I have observed [using positive anymore] belong to the upper middle class, with one exception which is worth recording: ‘Cantaloupes are over-rated: one out of ten is any good.’ ‘Any more,’ was the reply. 1959 AmSp 34.157 ceIL, Talking with a neighbor who was working in his garden, I commented, ‘The recent rains have certainly made the weeds grow.’ His reply was a vigorous ‘Any more!’