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ANYWAY v.s. ANYWAYS
hi,
"Sorry for missing our meeting yesterday. ANYWAY/ANYWAYS, let's make another one some time next week" should i use anyway or anywayS ? what's the difference? thank you all.
Agree with Guest. "Anyways" is one of those words you would want to avoid saying in a job interview.
>>hi,
"Sorry for missing our meeting yesterday. ANYWAY/ANYWAYS, let's make another one some time next week" should i use anyway or anywayS ? what's the difference? thank you all.<< "Anyway" and "anyways" are equivalent, "anyways" being a conserved Middle English genitive form that is used in various dialects, such as my own. Which form is used is simply a matter of the dialect in question. One note though is that while "anyway" is the form which prescriptivists have favored, "anyways" seems to be spreading in (at least North American) English dialects today. Of course, what they say has little pertinance to actual language usage, and trying to deprecate "anyways" falls into the same category as claiming that there is no word "alright" but only "all right", which, of course, is completely contrary to actual usage, both in speech and in writing, today. >>Agree with Guest. "Anyways" is one of those words you would want to avoid saying in a job interview. << /me glares at that which is known as Brennus.
As spoken by native speakers "anyway" and "anyways" are interchangeable in the sense of:
1: "Anyway(s), it's getting late so I better get going" (here, 'anyway' = 'so......') 2: "I don't care what he says; I'm going anyway(s)" (here, 'anyway' = 'in spite of ____') 3: "I don't even like pie, anyway(s)!" (here, 'anyway' = 'at all') Some speakers only use one form, some use the other, some use both for either 1, 2, or 3, some use a different form for 1 and a different one for 2 and 3, some use the same for 1 and 2, etc. It's worth noting that for whatever reason (and it's usually not a good one--as Travis indicated, "anyways" is a perfectly valid historical form) prescriptivists will tend to deride the usage of "anyways" in any instance but outside of formal speech and writing you'll often hear both "anyway" and "anyways." Personally, I only have "anyway" in my idiolect. I'd have to say "anyways" seems less common here than "anyway" but I do hear both.
Travis,
Keep on glaring. Your posts still tend to be too long and you could actually learn some things about editing by reading mine.
>>Travis,
Keep on glaring. Your posts still tend to be too long and you could actually learn some things about editing by reading mine.<< Is that some people have short attention spans my fault? Or should I just cut down my posts until they are mere textual soundbites, to cater to those who cannot handle anything more?
"'anyways' being a conserved Middle English genitive form . . ."
Travis, you may have answered a question I asked in another thread about alright vs. all right. My writing group insists that alright is all wrong, that I must use all right. Would you say that alright is also a "Middle English genitive form?" Sounds impressive, something I can dazzle my critique group with and shut them up for good on this one.
No, "alright" is not the same as "anyways", which was a genitive case adverb in Middle English, as it is a form that first appeared at least in writing in the late 19th century which was, yes, formed out of "all right". The matter, though, is that "alright" has gained both a separate meaning and a separate pronunciation from "all right", as the latter is just the literal combination of the words "all" and "right", whereas "alright" acts as a specific indivisible adjective meaning "okay" and which is pronounced in many if not most dialects which have it without any /l/, unlike "all right". To insist on "all right" goes against much usage today, since "all right" is now both distinct in meaning and pronunciation from "alright", and "alright" is used in much writing today even if prescriptivists still (futilely) try to deprecate it.
"whereas alright acts as a specific indivisible adjective meaning "okay."
Thank you Travis, all of that is dazzling enough for me. But now you've brought up another word that confuses me. "Okay." My writer's group insists that it must be spelled OK. They are a pain, now that I come to think of it. I just don't like the look of it. OK looks funny to me. I prefer okay. I know I've seen it spelled that way in novels, although I can't put my finger on one. But since you've used it here maybe you'd be so kind as to explain the spellings to me. Are linguistics your specialty?
To me, it seems that ''OK'' is some sort of acronym. Can anyone tell what words ''OK'' is derived of? Is it correct to spell ''ok'' instead of ''OK''?
The etymology of "okay" is not really known, even though there are many guesses as to such. Note that when writing the word itself (and not abbreviating it) in most contexts, "okay", not "OK" "ok", should be used, even though the latter two are used as abbreviations for it.
Terry:
I'd be interested in hearing about your writers' group, and any experience you have in writing? I do quite a bit myself.
"In most contexts "okay", not "Ok" "ok", should be used, even though the latter two are abrveiations for it."
Thanks again Travis, I'll take that to my writing group too. |