Anyhoo and Anywho as Conversational Transitions

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Liz Whittle. I’m calling from Grand Prairie, Texas.

Hi, Liz.

I have a question for y’all.

Hey, what’s up? How you doing?

Welcome to the show.

Thanks. So, growing up in, like, north-central west Texas, my mom, when she was telling a story, and I do the same thing, she’d be telling this story, and it’s a long-involved, all the details and everything, just like this. And then at some point, she would, you know, in the story, and she didn’t say, and that’s how it went, she’d say, anywho, and go on to the next topic.

So I’ve always wondered, why does she do that? And the other day, I actually heard somebody either on TV or on the radio do the same thing, and I thought, there’s got to be an origin for this. It started out somewhere. Where did it originate?

I love it. It’s good. I use it myself.

Oh, good. And you framed it exactly right. These days, we use anywho when we kind of want to either just kind of sum up what we’ve just said and kind of just give the quick line that kind of ends the whole conversation or when you want to change the topic. So particularly if somebody has an awkward moment, right? You know, they’re talking about your ex and you’re like, anywho, as I was saying about the rule.

So it started out as a dialect representation of Irish speech. There was, people would write it in print as if people in Ireland were saying it that way. And maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. But it was like, anywho was supposedly a dialect pronunciation. But now, mostly in the United States, North America, Canada included, we use it as a falsely sophisticated way to say anyhow. We are intentionally mispronouncing the word. You’ll even see sometimes people get a little prim look on their face when they say it. Kind of like a school teacher’s kind of, I don’t know, looking down their nose at you sort of appearance. Look for that next time you see someone say it.

Yeah.

So it’s a little bit self-conscious then? You’re like aware that you’ve been telling a story?

Yeah, yeah, you’re going on and on. Anywho, back to you, Liz.

That’s exactly how she would do it.

Your mother says this.

Right, right. Well, and now all of us say it, of course.

Yeah, it’s incredibly widespread. It’s very common throughout the United States.

If you don’t mind, I have another question for you.

A twofer from Liz.

Bring it on.

Okay, so I grew up in a little bitty town. And what I didn’t realize, you know, until you leave that town, is that my family especially, we call them Glassfordism. So my maiden name is Glassford, and we would just say this stuff, and so some of it we knew was a Glassfordism, but when I left town, I would say if I was looking at something and it was shoddy or not well-made or whatever, I’d say that’s such a cheap John deal. And I didn’t realize it, of course, until I left town, but I think, I don’t know if that is a common phrase, and my friends just weren’t aware of it, or if that really was one of our family things that we were the only ones that said that. So what do you think?

You are not alone. It’s actually fairly widespread.

Yes. And it’s well known enough that it’s in the slang dictionaries, dating back from the late 1800s, when it can refer to a pawnbroker shop, or it can refer to any kind of cheap store, what we might call a 99-cent store today, or it could just refer to the kind of person who shops in those places who is miserly and spends their money unwisely on really cheap things just because they’re too cheap to buy the proper quality.

So just a generic guy named John.

Yeah, I believe that’s what it is.

Yeah, yeah. Just John is kind of like your stand-in for buddy, Mac, pal, guy, dude, whatever. Just John is just your throwaway default person.

Cheap John.

I’ve never heard that.

Yeah, me neither.

I’m surprised. You still use this.

I only know it from the dictionaries. Because nobody else seems to be aware of it, but when we say it, we all know what we mean. You know how that goes.

Yeah, sure.

Yes, indeed. No, but it’s widespread. It shows up. It’s mainly in the United States, but it shows up again and again in recorded history over the last 200 years.

You know what? Just telling folks that I was going to call in, it’s amazing what nice little phrases and stuff that everybody had that we all had to talk about it.

So I love your show.

Thank you, Liz. And I’m so glad I got to call in. You know, you should have everyone that you’ve been talking to about the show send in their questions, too.

Maybe we’ll get them on.

Okay, I will do that.

All right. I’ll be happy to do it. Take care now, Liz. Best of luck to you.

Okay, thanks, guys. Bye-bye.

Appreciate it.

Bye-bye.

Anyhoo, so call us and goof with us about language, 877-929-9673, or you can send an email to words@waywordradio.org and find us on Facebook and Twitter.