It goes back a bit before the 1990s; it’s from the underground dance scene:
Quoth the raver, “anymore”.
In the Prescriptivist vs. Descriptivist sport I used to root for the Defense, but I’m less dogmatic anymore.
As a southerner living in the north I’ve never heard this usage in the wild and the 1825 -1835 date makes me unsurprised at this.
That might could be the case.
I don’t know where Dictionary.com gets the dates from. The OED has references for both meanings from the 1960s.
I use it “ironically”, that is, I know it’s wrong but might sometimes use it anyway because I like how it sounds. Kind of like “bass ackwards”.
Me too. I find it very odd because to me anymore connotes “no longer” which is pretty much the opposite of “these days” so I sit and wonder what the hell is meant half the time I see it.
Oh well. Regionalisms are like that. Strikes me as though it should be perfectly clear that “so don’t I” is a phrase used when agreeing with someone, but I know it confuses the hell out of others.
Regional, my husband’s family has always used “anymore” this way and they are from Northern Ohio. I never met anyone from anywhere else who did, but it sounds like the positive use of “anymore” isn’t as limited to that region anymore. =D