Re: anymore (was: Re: the surprise that is at me...)

In message <38B79C67.6980664A@...>, Aidan Grey <urso@...>
writes
>DOUGLAS KOLLER wrote:
>
>> From: "dirk elzinga"
>>
>> > lots of late '60s radical political stuff mixed in with not very
>> > serious linguistics; it's a historical curiosity anymore
>>
>> but
>>
>> > like the old Laugh-In, the jokes just aren't funny anymore
>>
>> A detour: "anymore" in an affirmative sentence makes my idiolect cringe. I
>> first heard this usage back in university, and balked at it then, but
>> greater exposure made it something I accepted, but never internalized. I
>> haven't heard this in quite a while, but here it is again. In a negative
>> sentence, piece o' cake, but in an affirmative sentence, I'd opt for "these
>> days" or some such. Is this just my idiolect, or something more "back East"?
>> Other Northeast speakers?
>
>It sounds fine to me (west coast/midwest). Thinks of the stress - stressed on
>last syll not first. It's used a lot in TV shows and such - maybe it's just the
>prnted media where the other pronunciation, on the 1st syll, comes to mind
>immediately so it looks like it sounds weird.
I've never seen or heard that usage before.  The first time I read it I
just assumed that Dirk had missed out a "not" and thought: "Why isn't it
a historical curiosity anymore?"

Gulp.  I can't assimilate that at all.

--
John Fisher   john@drummond.demon.co.uk   johnf@epcc.ed.ac.uk
Elet Anta website: http://www.drummond.demon.co.uk/anta/
Drummond ro cleshfan merec; fanye litoc, inye litoc