Anyways

Did you know that the word "anyways" is considered an error in English usage? The book Common Errors in English Usage, revised edition, states that both "anyways" and "anyway" are not a good idea.

“Anyways” at the beginning of a sentence usually indicates that the speaker has resumed a narrative thread: “Anyways, I told Matilda that guy was a lazy bum before she ever married him.” It also occurs at the end of phrases and sentences, meaning “in any case“: “He wasn’t all that good-looking anyways.” A slightly less rustic quality can be imparted to these sentences by substituting the more formal anyway. Neither expression is a good idea in formal written English. The two-word phrase “any way” has many legitimate uses, however: “Is there any way to prevent the impending disaster?”

This struck me because when I talk with my Mom on Saturday mornings it is a word that she uses frequently to fill a lot of the gaps between thoughts and sentences. I mean, very frequently.

There are some other phrases we use too often or incorrectly. The phrase "you know" is not, for example, intended to be a conjunction, you know, because people, you know, don't like hearing it used over and over again, you know.

You know, this is the kind of thing that probably doomed Carolyn Kennedy's run for the U.S. senate last winter. I'd read in Harper's magazine that she used the phrase "you know" 130 times in a relatively brief interview with the New York Times and according to this Daily News story from December 29 she said "you know" more than 200 times in a 30-minute session with The Sun.

I'll never forget an incident at my house while growing up when my brother Ron had gotten into the "you know" habit. The incident is vivid in my mind. While we were seated at the dinner table Ron was telling about something that had happened that day, perhaps at school. The number of times he'd said "you know" was adding up and it put my dad right over the top. "We know! We know already!" he shouted with a red face, "Get on with your story!"

The "you know" habit was shamed right out of him on the spot, I believe, because I can't recall Ron ever saying it again to this day.

Anyways, the thought I was having was that maybe if Carolyn's dad had been around when she was growing up, he might have helped her deal with it. Hopefully in a somewhat less painful way than my brother's lesson.

To Carolyn: keep doing your best to make the world a better place. There are some things more important than sound bites.