Positive anymore

Positive anymore is the use of the adverb anymore in an affirmative context. While any more is typically a negative/interrogative polarity item used in negative, interrogative, or hypothetical contexts, speakers of some dialects of English use it in positive or affirmative contexts, with a meaning similar to nowadays or from now on.

Positive anymore occurs in some varieties of North American English, especially in the Midlands variety spoken in parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, and Missouri; its usage extends to Utah and some other western U.S. states.

Positive anymore also occurs in parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Some linguists theorize that the North American usage derives from Irish or Scots-Irish sources.

Examples

The following examples illustrate the use of positive anymore in Irish or American English speech, as recorded by lexicographers or sociolinguists.

• "A servant being instructed how to act, will answer 'I will do it any more'." (Northern Ireland, c. 1898)
• "Any more, the difference between a white collar worker and a blue collar worker is simply a matter of shirt preference." (Madison, Wisconsin, 1973)
• "Everything we do anymore seems to have been done in a big hurry." (Kingston, Ontario, 1979)
• "I'll be getting six or seven days' holiday anymore." (Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1981)
• "Anymore we watch videos rather than go to the movies." (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, c. 1991)