# Do you use "anymore" to mean "these days"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2015, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678 "2015-07-20T09:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/21 "2015-07-20T17:27:28Z")
I spent some of my formative years nearby the Amish region in Pennsylvania so maybe I picked it up there. I had no idea anybody had a problem with it, and I don’t really understand what that problem is. > [@](#): > > an·y·more > /ˌenēˈmôr/ > adverb > North American > > adverb: any more > > to any further extent; any longer. > “she refused to listen anymore” ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/22 "2015-07-20T17:35:12Z")
Yes. Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/23 "2015-07-20T18:17:35Z")
I would feel awkward saying “these days”, it’s always been “anymore” for me. I grew up on the Western Shore of Lake Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/24 "2015-07-20T18:26:29Z")
I have never heard anyone say it that way verbally but I have seen it in writing and it always looks weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/25 "2015-07-20T18:38:15Z")
Of course I use it to mean “these days,” since that’s what it means. And yes, I use it in both the positive and negative sense (which drives my husband crazy). SE Ohio originally. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/26 "2015-07-20T18:41:57Z")
I voted “Yes”, but only use the word “anymore” after the condition, never at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/27 "2015-07-20T18:50:07Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > To help eliminate confusion, it would nice if the OP returned and clarified that what he is referring to is the “[positive anymore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_anymore).” Sometimes a little Wikipedia link goes a long way. > > Edit: I forgot to mention that I don’t like the positive anymore construction myself. It does sound wrong to my ears, but I realize it is a regionalism. You mean clarified IF that is what he’s referring to? The OP is bare enough that I’d assume he’s referring to any usage of the phrase. It’s interesting to hear about the positive vs. negative constructions. > [@bibliophage](#): > > It’s pretty standard in negative constructions throughout the U.S., as in “I don’t drive Ford trucks anymore.” I use it frequently in such constructions. When used in positive constructions, however, as in “Ford sure makes good trucks anymore,” it’s a regional thing. I don’t use it myself, but I heard it a lot when I lived in West Virginia. > [@MrAtoz](#): > > . . . If it’s correct in “I don’t eat meat anymore,” how can it possibly be incorrect in “Anymore, it seems like everyone’s glued to their phones”? In both sentences, it’s being used in _exactly the same way_–to mean, “now, as contrasted with the past.” . . . . > [@dracoi](#): > > I do it occasionally… though never at the beginning of a sentence. . . . I definitely use it in negative constructions. Checking out the wikipedia link, a couple of the positive examples would sound right if, as \*\*dracoi \*\*said, the anymore was shifted to the back of the sentence. I’m not sure what the dividing criteria driving my choices are. “We get a lot of tourists around here anymore,” doesn’t sound wrong, just informal. “I’ll do it that way anymore,” sounds like something’s missing of got cross-threaded. "It seems, anymore, that . . . " doesn’t sound completely off. For the examples in the link, #1 and 4 sound wrong, #3 sounds fine, and #2 and 5 don’t sound wrong, but I’d put the anymore further back. The link says that in addition to negative contexts, it’s also used in interrogative and hypothetical contexts. “It seems” would shift a sentence into a hypothetical context. Maybe it doesn’t sound bad to me if the sentence can be interpreted as having the addition of anymore shift it into a hypothetical context, without other words present to create the hypothetical context. Does that make any sense? Almost forgot - California with some exposure to Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/28 "2015-07-20T18:56:30Z")
I voted “no” because I understood the intent of the question. I do use it with a negative verb (“We don’t do that anymore,” or “That isn’t here anymore”) but never with a positive verb. “We do things differently anymore” sounds horrible to my ears. Long Island, NY ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/29 "2015-07-20T18:58:17Z")
I first heard the “positive anymore” some 50 years ago, from someone who was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. It struck me as WRONG at the time, and has remained WRONG ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/30 "2015-07-20T18:58:22Z")
Born and raised in NW IN and use it all the time. No one has ever looked askance at me for it and I work with some pretty snobbish folk. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/31 "2015-07-20T18:59:23Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I voted “Yes”, but only use the word “anymore” after the condition, never at the beginning. It’s not the position in the sentence that matters, it’s whether you use it positively or negatively. Everyone pretty much agrees that it’s normal to say that something “_isn’t_… anymore,” but the question is whether it’s proper to say something “_is_… anymore.” ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/32 "2015-07-20T18:59:51Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I do use it with a negative verb (“We don’t do that anymore,” or “That isn’t here anymore”) but never with a positive verb. “We do things differently anymore” sounds horrible to my ears. Ditto. Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/33 "2015-07-20T19:14:09Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I first heard the “positive anymore” some 50 years ago, from someone who was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. It struck me as WRONG at the time, and has remained WRONG ever since. But again, WHY? Nobody will ever explain to me WHY the positive anymore is supposed to be so wrong. They just declare, “It’s wrong! Don’t do it!” I repeat, in both positive and negative sentences, “anymore” is being used in exactly the same way, with exactly the same meaning. It’s a word which contrasts current conditions with different conditions that occurred in the past. That’s what it means, whether the sentence is positive or negative. The presence or absence of the word “not” in the sentence does, and should do, nothing to change that. It’s as if someone said to me, “I don’t drive very fast.” And I replied, “Well, I do drive fast.” And then they said, “No! Stop it! You can’t use the word _fast_ in a positive sentence! That sounds awful! You can only say _fast_ if you’re speaking negatively.” Wouldn’t you find that a bit odd? It’s this arbitrary exclusion of “anymore” from positive expressions that I don’t understand, and apart from simply declaring by fiat “It’s wrong,” nobody ever so much as attempts to justify the arbitrariness. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/34 "2015-07-20T19:33:08Z")
Because, for whatever reason, Standard English has never allowed positive polarity anymore and people’s prose ears don’t permit it much like how “never lifts a finger” is a fine colloquialism but no one says “lifts a finger” unless they’re being funny. As for me, I don’t use the positive anymore but I don’t care if other people do. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/35 "2015-07-20T19:37:55Z")
I don’t recall ever hearing that usage of “any more.” ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/36 "2015-07-20T20:32:54Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > It’s as if someone said to me, “I don’t drive very fast.” And I replied, “Well, I do drive fast.” And then they said, “No! Stop it! You can’t use the word _fast_ in a positive sentence! That sounds awful! You can only say _fast_ if you’re speaking negatively.” Wouldn’t you find that a bit odd? Very odd. I drive anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/37 "2015-07-20T20:53:42Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > But again, WHY? Nobody will ever explain to me WHY the positive anymore is supposed to be so wrong. They just declare, “It’s wrong! Don’t do it!” > > I repeat, in both positive and negative sentences, “anymore” is being used in exactly the same way, with exactly the same meaning. It’s a word which contrasts current conditions with different conditions that occurred in the past. That’s what it means, whether the sentence is positive or negative. The presence or absence of the word “not” in the sentence does, and should do, nothing to change that. > > It’s as if someone said to me, “I don’t drive very fast.” And I replied, “Well, I do drive fast.” And then they said, “No! Stop it! You can’t use the word _fast_ in a positive sentence! That sounds awful! You can only say _fast_ if you’re speaking negatively.” Wouldn’t you find that a bit odd? > > It’s this arbitrary exclusion of “anymore” from positive expressions that I don’t understand, and apart from simply declaring by fiat “It’s wrong,” nobody ever so much as attempts to justify the arbitrariness. I’m not saying you’re wrong - this thread is a clear example of how familiar idioms are comfortable and unfamiliar ones appear strikingly wrong. But I do find your arguments strange. The ‘fast’ example just doesn’t work as an analogy, IMO - and it’s because ‘anymore’ is equivalent to ‘any more’. That is: [ul] [li]The glass is completely full; you can’t pour _any more_ water into it; you can’t pour water into it anymore.[/li] [li]The cinema has been demolished; you will not be able to make _any more_ visits there; you won’t be going to that cinema anymore[/li][/ul] The counterexamples of those statements can’t (in my dialect) make sense of ‘anymore’ because: [ul] [li]The glass is only half full; you can pour _some more_ water in it. (I would never say ‘you can pour\* any more\* water into it’)[/li] [li]The cinema is still open for business; you can go there _again_. (I would never say ‘you will be able to make any more visits there’)[/li][/ul] YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/38 "2015-07-20T20:55:34Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > But again, WHY? Nobody will ever explain to me WHY the positive anymore is supposed to be so wrong. They just declare, “It’s wrong! Don’t do it!” Idiom by nature has no logical explanation. Language is not math. Do you ever arrive at a party heveled and combobulated? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/39 "2015-07-20T20:55:36Z")
Oops, yes, I did mean in the positive sense. 😛 Looks like most folks understood what I meant, though, so thank you. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678/40 "2015-07-20T21:09:29Z")
Only in negative constructions here. I don’t think I’ve heard it in the positive form until I joined this message board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-use-anymore-to-mean-these-days/725678.md?page=3)