Word for the Wise : Anymore
March 10th, 2010
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Author: We can't resist anymore; today we face down the various usage issues surrounding the term anymore.
First the easy part: is the adverb anymore properly spelled as one word or two? The one-word styling is more common nowadays (or should we say, "the one-word styling is more common anymore"?), but the two-word form is still perfectly acceptable. Just remember that there is a difference between the adverb anymore ("We don't go out anymore") and the phrase any more where more acts as a pronoun or an adjective ("I can't eat any more pizza"). In the latter case, any and more are always distinct words.
Easy enough? Now let's move on to the harder issue. No one seems to object to the use of anymore in questions
First the easy part: is the adverb anymore properly spelled as one word or two? The one-word styling is more common nowadays (or should we say, "the one-word styling is more common anymore"?), but the two-word form is still perfectly acceptable. Just remember that there is a difference between the adverb anymore ("We don't go out anymore") and the phrase any more where more acts as a pronoun or an adjective ("I can't eat any more pizza"). In the latter case, any and more are always distinct words.
Easy enough? Now let's move on to the harder issue. No one seems to object to the use of anymore in questions
("Do you listen to the radio anymore?"), in conditional contexts ("If you do that anymore, I'm leaving!"), or in negative contexts ("I won't play it anymore").
But some folks think the use of anymore in positive statements ("It... seems to me that all I do anymore is go to funerals.") is substandard. Is it? Not according to the people who track how English is actually used. The respected Dictionary of American Regional English reports that the positive anymore turns up in all dialect areas of the U.S. except New England. It is used by people of all educational levels and in all walks of life. In fact, our example "all I do anymore is go to funerals" is a quotation from President Harry S. Truman.
All we do anymore is answer your mail -- and we like it! Our e-mail address is wftw@aol.com. Our street address is Word for the Wise, 318 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12206.
Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and CD's including Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.
But some folks think the use of anymore in positive statements ("It... seems to me that all I do anymore is go to funerals.") is substandard. Is it? Not according to the people who track how English is actually used. The respected Dictionary of American Regional English reports that the positive anymore turns up in all dialect areas of the U.S. except New England. It is used by people of all educational levels and in all walks of life. In fact, our example "all I do anymore is go to funerals" is a quotation from President Harry S. Truman.
All we do anymore is answer your mail -- and we like it! Our e-mail address is wftw@aol.com. Our street address is Word for the Wise, 318 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12206.
Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and CD's including Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.
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