Positive anymore caught in the wild

Wilson Gray hwgray at GMAIL.COM
Wed Aug 15 20:38:18 UTC 2007


Good point, Beverly.

-Wilson

On 8/15/07, Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at ohio.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Positive anymore caught in the wild
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> But at least she understood that you meant you do and not that you
> don't!  Non-users ordinarily don't comprehend the meaning, as I noticed
> when Dave Letterman used the construction once in a joke and no one laughed.
>
> At 04:01 PM 8/15/2007, you wrote:
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Positive anymore caught in the wild
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Last night, I said to my wife:
> >
> >"Anymore I bruise really easily."
> >
> >She replied:
> >
> >"Really? The same thing's been happening to me!"
> >
> >However, I don't consider this to be a truly valid example, since she
> >may well have been distracted from the "anymore" by the "fact" that
> >we're both bruising easily.
> >
> >-Wilson
> >
> >On 8/15/07, Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at ohio.edu> wrote:
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIO.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Re: Positive anymore caught in the wild
> > >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Since the SW part of New York State is right in the positive "anymore" belt
> > > (see my earlier cite on a 70-yr-old from Akron), she's very likely been
> > > saying it all her life.  (BTW, I took out the first comma in Wilson's
> > > quote, just to reflect agreed upon non-pausing.)
> > >
> > > Beverly
> > >
> > > At 11:13 PM 8/14/2007, you wrote:
> > > >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > >-----------------------
> > > >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > >Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
> > > >Subject:      Re: Positive anymore caught in the wild
> > > >-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> > > >
> > > > >Spoken by my wife, a native of the Wyoming Valley of the Suquehanna
> > > > >River in NE PA:
> > > > >
> > > > >_I bruise really easily anymore_, so I have to be careful about
> > > > >bumping into things.
> > > >
> > > >I heard my grandmother, an 87-year-old lifelong resident of the
> > > >Southern Tier of Western New York, use the positive "anymore" this
> > > >past weekend. I don't know how long she's been using it.
> > > >
> > > >James Harbeck.
> > > >
> > > >------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >--
> >All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> >come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >-----
> >                                               -Sam'l Clemens
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list