According to spell check it's chill, but not according to my conscience. Are 'Anyways' and 'Either ways' English terms? If so, can one replace 'Anyway' and 'Either way' with them? Thanks in advance.
They are nonstandard. Both are widely enough used to be endorsed by spell checkers, but I myself would avoid them outside of dialogue. If I have doubts about a word, I don't trust spell checkers alone. I go to a site like dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anyways (Dictionary.com fails to find "either ways", but it does find "either way" as a set of web links, including one for the idiom "either way")
adding an 's' to either is generally considered poor speaking/writing... to me, the same goes for 'toward' but the 's' version seems to have been accepted by some... if you wouldn't say/write 'anyhows' why would you use 'anyways'? and 'either ways' makes no sense whatsoever!... 'either' refers to one of two whatevers... so, if it can't be 'either dogs' or 'either situations' what makes anyone think it can be 'either ways'?...
They are Americanisms I would say. I would drop the 's' as suggested, unless you happen to be quoting an American who is using it in speech.
They are considered nonstandard/substandard in the Americas, as elsewhere. Nor is their use limited to the Americas.
You shouldn't be using "anyway" and "either way" in your writing, unless you're writing dialog. They are generally used as filler and have no (or little) place in written language. "anyway" is just a colloquial way of saying "regardless."
Thanks for the advice, everybody. Apparently, anyways or either ways are not appropriate for use in writing, so I think I got the point.
What happens when your writing and you get to the end of a paragraph and see a quarter of it is underlined in red? I can't spell to save my life. Microsoft Word half the time doesn't know what in the world I'm trying to type. Most times I have to hit ignore or keep trying spelling it in a different way to find the correct one on spell check. It takes way to much time.
All I can say to that is that if Microsoft Word can't figure out what you are trying to spell, think of what the reader is going through. Readers don't read by sounding out each word in their head. The majority of words are recognized immediately by sight pattern, and in such a way that certain misspellings aren't even typically noticed. Unfortunately, these are the ones that Microsoft is pretty good at guessing what you wanted to write; in some cases, depending on your settings, it may even autocorrect some of them. It's just a fact of life for writers that there is no substitute for learning to spell, and to recognize when you really need to check a dictionary to make sure what you are spelling is the correct word. You may be spelling a correct word, butt knot they correct word four you're sentence. (The underlined words are all valid words, but the wrong ones - Microsoft or any other spell checker won't say they are misspelled). Better that you spend the time once per word to spell it correctly, than that (hopefully) thousands of readers trip over the word and spend time figuring out what you meant. Much of that, and they'll simply stop reading.
I cringe every time I hear someone say "Anyways". Cogito is right about its use, but I still hate it. I after reading through what he's said, I want to find the poem, "Ode to a Spellchecker." IT's really only useful for twothings: noticing typoes, and fixing words that have e.g. one L and you types two, that sort of thing. DarkMaiden, have you ever looked into programs like Dragon Naturally Speaking? It's perfect for people who have the sorts of problems you're talking about.
Yes, lets not bandy about (insert nation other than one’s own)-isms as if we are attempting to eschew poor speech and/or grammar to the other speakers of a given language. Nonstandard usage happens in any community of speakers of any/all languages. I’ve had, more than once, comments to the effect of, “You should avoid saying such and such; that’s a very American way of speaking,” as if the comment were just a long way to say substandard. Not a friendly commentary, in any direction, from anyone to anyone.
anyway is a fully acceptable word. I for one am not sure what the issue is. I would reckon that it all depends on who you be trying to reach IE: Your audience. Just my two bits.
Treat it as a synonym for anyhow, in the "Anyways" format it is a nonstandard word, IE: Casual writing only. Do not use it in technical documentation, or other publications that do not allow for casual words. Hope this helps.
Anyway (with an "s") is merely a literary choice that can provide a desired character effect when used in dialog, "irregardless" of its being correct. LOL
That is exactly what the issue is, Ungood, whether or not "anyways" is correct. DarkMaiden, it's basically a program that you can use to read to a computer and have it type for you. I think it can do more, but that's basically what it does.
OMG I so wish that I had that. I'm very bad at keeping motivated and that would be a big help, but then again I guess that would be like cheating. I think I need to improve as a writer with the keyboard. 'Sigh' Great now I have to go get a dictionary.
Nah, it's not cheating, it's just an adaptation for people who have problems with writing, and a time saver for people who don't.
True I guess ok maybe I don't know. The only thing like that I've heard of was in a book with a blind girl who had that on her com.
Why if you can use software like dragon naturally speak, you will never have to type again. Praise the software gods.
