Monday, December 10, 2012  Anyways: What does that really mean?
Anyway or Anyways  What does that mean?  When you hear that word
from a speaker what happens in your mind?  It might create a
disconnection between the speaker and the listener. When I hear
either of those words my head snaps back to listen for the
change of thought. In other words, what was said before that
word was irrelevant to what follows.  That suggests that this is
a disjointed presentation or conversation. Perhaps the speaker
got lost in thought and took us down the wrong path. Now, he’s
trying to get back on track with the expression “anyways”.
Where do these words really belong?  We’ll get there any way we
can. We’ll do what ever we need to. That might be reminiscent of
Hannibal crossing the Alps with his war elephants.  But the
expression, anyway or anyways is a dismissal of previous words.
It implies, “Ignore what was said earlier; what I really mean
is…”  The speaker wants you to forget the words that were said
earlier.  Does that