Houshphandzadeh wrote:if you can say, "It doesn't cost two dollars anymore," why can't you say, "It costs two dollars anymore"

for the same reason I go crazy when people interchangeably use "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less". They don't mean the same thing!!!!

Houshphandzadeh wrote:if you can say, "It doesn't cost two dollars anymore," why can't you say, "It costs two dollars anymore"

yeah i've struggled with this for a long time.

"it does NOT cost two dollars ANY more" -- without the negative, you can't use "anymore." basically, i was taught anymore = no longer

stevemc wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:if you can say, "It doesn't cost two dollars anymore," why can't you say, "It costs two dollars anymore"

for the same reason I go crazy when people interchangeably use "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less". They don't mean the same thing!!!!

I'm not saying they mean the same thing, I'm saying they mean the opposite

Houshphandzadeh wrote:

stevemc wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:if you can say, "It doesn't cost two dollars anymore," why can't you say, "It costs two dollars anymore"

for the same reason I go crazy when people interchangeably use "I could care less" and "I couldn't care less". They don't mean the same thing!!!!

I'm not saying they mean the same thing, I'm saying they mean the opposite

oh! well in that case, say it with pride.

just use double negatives like a real american

I like to think of myself as a double positive kind a guy

that's some orwellian shit

me too desert and dessert

Houshphandzadeh wrote:if you can say, "It doesn't cost two dollars anymore," why can't you say, "It costs two dollars anymore"

You can. Although it's hard to think of when "It costs two dollars" wouldn't do the job.

it suggests that it used to cost a different amount

i've heard people use "anymore" without a negative but i'm struggling to think of an example

the context it came up in today was something like:

"Oh, I didn't realize I just missed the Beach Boys."
"Are they any good on tour what with him being an invalid anymore?"

"do you need anymore?"

Houshphandzadeh wrote:the context it came up in today was something like:

"Oh, I didn't realize I just missed the Beach Boys."
"Are they any good on tour what with him being an invalid anymore?"

yeah that's about what i'm thinking of. it sounds weird to me and i don't even know if it's proper

I like this two Random Threads thing we have going. It's like Batman and Detective Comics

I say we're still good as long as we're on 50.

I'd just use "now" myself.

Regional Note: In standard American English the word anymore is often found in negative sentences: They don't live here anymore. But anymore is widely used in regional American English in positive sentences with the meaning "nowadays": "We use a gas stove anymore" (Oklahoma informant in DARE). Its use, which appears to be spreading, is centered in the South Midland and Midwestern states, as well as in the Western states that received settlers from those areas. The earliest recorded examples are from Northern Ireland, where the positive use of anymore still occurs.

Have any of you ever heard of idioms? Because you're asking for a lot if you're asking for all your idiomatic expressions to make sense.

But in the Beach Boys example, it seems to me the use of anymore in that sentence is superfluous. If it's left out, the sentence is completely understandable. Or, perhaps you it's an issue of syntax--Are the Beach Boys good anymore, what with that guy being a cripple? In the other examples, anymore adds the nuance "it used to be that way, but now it is not". If you want to talk about how something is still the same, you can say "it still costs two dollars" or if you want to emphasize that 2 dollars isn't much money you can say it still only costs two dollars. And yeah, I do live in the mid-south, but I don't commonly hear the positive use of anymore.