a locus classicus for fronted "anymore"

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:30 PM -0400 8/18/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Just to repeat what I said long ago so newbies don't need to look it up...
>
>When I first heard fronted _anymore_ ca1974-75, it was so weird sounding I
>wasn't sure I could tell what it meant, no less use it myself.  It took me a
>very long time to get used to.
>
>Maybe it ws just me.
>
>JL

Not just you.  Labov somewhere describes a study
in which his subjects (including those who live
in areas where real live positive "anymore"s can
be heard) report that it must either mean "still"
or  "not anymore" (the speaker presumably having
forgotten the "not" part), neither of which of
course is true.  And Bob Greene had an old column
in the Chicago Sun-Times reporting similar
reactions to his innocently using a positive
"anymore" in a column, leading to readers telling
him what he must have meant (but in fact didn't).

LH

>
>On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:14 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: a locus classicus for fronted "anymore"
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  If it were "The airlines don't want to take the risks anymore" that would
>>  be usual to my ears.  Moving anymore up front isn't such a big difference.
>>   It still doesn't make it a positive I'd say because of the "don't".
>>
>>
>>  Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
>>  see truespel.com phonetic spelling
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  > Sender: American Dialect Society
>>  > Poster: Laurence Horn
>>  > Subject: Re: a locus classicus for fronted "anymore"
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > At 11:28 AM -0500 8/18/09, Scot LaFaive wrote:
>>  >>>
>>  >>> Anymore, the airlines don't want to take the risks
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>Man that's weird to my Wisconsin ears. It makes my brain hurt just trying
>>  to
>>  >>grasp it.
>>  >>
>>  >>Scot
>>  >
>>  > I'm surprised! I must have heard more positive (including fronted)
>>  > _anymore_s during the four years I lived in Wisconsin than I heard in
>>  > my other 60 years living in the Northeast and California. (Not
>>  > counting examples from linguistics papers.)
>>  >
>>  > LH
>>  >
>>  >>On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>  >>
>>  >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  >>> -----------------------
>>  >>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>  >>> Poster: Laurence Horn
>>  >>> Subject: a locus classicus for fronted "anymore"
>>  >>>
>>  >>>
>>
>>  >>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>>
>>  >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/business/18airports.html
>>  >>>
>>  >>> August 18, 2009
>>  >>> Small Cities Pay to Keep Air Travel
>>  >>> By ELIZABETH OLSON
>>  >>>
>>  >>> With airlines cutting back service in a weak economy, some cities
>>  >>> that are too big to qualify for federal help but too small to keep
>>  >>> the planes flying in have stepped up with ways to hang on: paying the
>>  >>> airlines, either directly or indirectly.
>>  >>>
>>  >>> The cities, like Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Duluth, Minn., have tried
>>  >>> various strategies to keep their lifeline to the outside world.
>>  >>>
>>  >>> ...
>>  >>>
>>  >>> Officials in Duluth are weighing whether to guarantee an airline that
>>  >>> a certain percentage of seats will be filled. Once those targets are
>>  >>> met, the city will profit.
>>  >>>
>>  >>> "Anymore, the airlines don't want to take the risks," said Brian
>>  >>> Ryks, executive director of the Duluth Airport Authority. "But they
>>  >>> want all the rewards."
>>  >>>
>>  >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
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>  > >>>
>>  >>
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>
>
>
>--
>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
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