Survey on any more vs nowadays

Sentence Group A
He’s being such a milksop nowadays.
She doesn’t play Halo any more.

Sentence Group B
He’s being such a milksop any more.
She doesn’t play Halo nowadays.

Comment if you have something to say about the subject or don’t like your available answers.

~ by Skennedy on March 1, 2007.

30 Responses to “Survey on any more vs nowadays”

  1. I’m confused by the options, so I’ll just tell you.

    “any more” refers to doing an action that you used to do in the past but now don’t. So the bit about Halo was correct. It cannot however, be used with a state of being like “milksop”.

    “nowadays” can be used in that way, so the Halo sentence works as well, but its more appropriate as a reflection on the general state of the world at present (compared to the general state in the past)

    • oh, sorry, by “the world”, i guess i really meant “the collection of things that you are discussing”; whether that’s a single individual, or actually is the state of the entire world

    • oh, sorry, by “the world”, i guess i really meant “the collection of things that you are discussing”; whether that’s a single individual, or actually is the state of the entire world

  2. I’m confused by the options, so I’ll just tell you.

    “any more” refers to doing an action that you used to do in the past but now don’t. So the bit about Halo was correct. It cannot however, be used with a state of being like “milksop”.

    “nowadays” can be used in that way, so the Halo sentence works as well, but its more appropriate as a reflection on the general state of the world at present (compared to the general state in the past)

  3. He’s being such a milksop any more.

    The use of “any more” in that sentence makes a horrendous “thunking” noise in my brain.

  4. He’s being such a milksop any more.

    The use of “any more” in that sentence makes a horrendous “thunking” noise in my brain.

  5. i had to look up the word “milksop.”

    : an unmanly man :

    then it listed “mollycoddle” on the page, which is a fabulous word i haven’t encountered in a long time.

  6. i had to look up the word “milksop.”

    : an unmanly man :

    then it listed “mollycoddle” on the page, which is a fabulous word i haven’t encountered in a long time.

  7. This sort of thing makes my inner English teacher and my inner linguist get in a fight. My inner English teacher hates group B, especially the first sentence. My inner linguist says “dialect variation is cool!”

  8. This sort of thing makes my inner English teacher and my inner linguist get in a fight. My inner English teacher hates group B, especially the first sentence. My inner linguist says “dialect variation is cool!”

  9. I think both sentences are technically correct, but I think A is a better contruction.

    I could be wrong ;)

  10. I think both sentences are technically correct, but I think A is a better contruction.

    I could be wrong ;)

  11. “Anymore” to indicate “now as opposed to some past state” is a regionalism– I’ve usually heard it used by people from Indiana and Kentucky, possibly Ohio IIRC. I’ve heard “nowadays” used both ways.

    Both are very slangy. If the person who uses them makes his or her listener confused or uncomfortable, then yes, it’s incorrect— whether or not the listener is being uptight is irrelevant— you tailor your conversation to the taste of the person with whom you are speaking. And they are never correct in more formal speech/ writing, unless you have quotes around them.

    My two cents.

  12. “Anymore” to indicate “now as opposed to some past state” is a regionalism– I’ve usually heard it used by people from Indiana and Kentucky, possibly Ohio IIRC. I’ve heard “nowadays” used both ways.

    Both are very slangy. If the person who uses them makes his or her listener confused or uncomfortable, then yes, it’s incorrect— whether or not the listener is being uptight is irrelevant— you tailor your conversation to the taste of the person with whom you are speaking. And they are never correct in more formal speech/ writing, unless you have quotes around them.

    My two cents.

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