Any Port in a Storm - Anything at all????

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May 19, 2013, 1:31am

Any Port in a Storm :: On the Plaza :: Where Words Collide :: Anything at all????

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Topic: Anything at all???? (Read 376 times)

imec
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Anything at all????
« Thread Started on Mar 13, 2012, 5:48pm »

Can someone - anyone AT ALL - please tell me what is the use of the two words AT ALL attached to the end of a question? I hear it all the time and it drives me nuts! At the checkout: "Do you need any bags AT ALL?". At the drive thru window: "Any ketchup AT ALL?". On the airplane: "Any garbage AT ALL?". At the gas pump: "Any windows AT ALL?".

Can I answer "No, none." Or do I need to reassure them with "No, none AT ALL."? Is "none at all" LESS than "none"? And what if I want to say "yes" - is it enough? Or should I say "yes, definitely!"? Is it some sort of code to see if I know about some secret or other - like there's some sort of "special" ketchup they're offering - not just plain Heinz? Or are they making it clear that if I say "no", there'll be no turning back? No second chance?

Does it mean anything AT ALL???

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kerouac2
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #1 on Mar 13, 2012, 6:10pm »

Good question!

Time to start some research.

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bixaorellana
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #2 on Mar 13, 2012, 7:42pm »

Oh, that's a new and annoying verbal tic to which I've not been treated since I'm not living in the country of my birth. Since you spend time both in the US & Canada, Imec, I'm assuming that both of those countries are afflicted with this tic.

Have you monitored popular tv for this usage? It's probably popping up on the tube, which is usually the culprit in perpetrating this kind of thing, if anything is at all. (

)

These things come in waves and the public seems to gleefully splash in them. Remember, back in the 80s I think, when people didn't simply said "no"? It was always "no no no no no". And of course there are the waves that come ashore and never recede: "at this point in time" or the classic "general consensus of opinion" -- an extravaganza of useless additions. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consensus)

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fumobici
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #3 on Mar 13, 2012, 9:14pm »

Mar 13, 2012, 5:48pm, imec wrote:

Can someone - anyone AT ALL - please tell me what is the use of the two words AT ALL attached to the end of a question?

My two cents well needless to say actually to be honest really it's like you know kind of um truthfully hopefully at the end of the day like that eh.

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kerouac2
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #4 on Mar 13, 2012, 9:21pm »

Here is a first definition (but not an explanation yet):

at all
1. In any way: unable to walk at all.
2. To any extent; whatever: not at all sorry.

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imec
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #5 on Mar 13, 2012, 10:35pm »

Of course, it's irksome enough on its own, but to add insult to injury, they usually add... well, here's a typical exchange...

Any bags at all? No, thanks. AWESOME.

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bixaorellana
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #6 on Mar 14, 2012, 1:54am »

Mar 13, 2012, 9:14pm, fumobici wrote:

at the end of the day

*runs screaming into the night*

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hwinpp
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #7 on Mar 14, 2012, 6:29am »

Mar 13, 2012, 10:35pm, imec wrote:

...

Any bags at all? No, thanks. AWESOME.

Ha, ha, ha!

I don't hear it much out here in the diaspora. I think most of the English speakers here aren't inundated with this kind of fad so they don't use them (at all).

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bjd
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #8 on Mar 14, 2012, 9:12am »

I don't hear this stuff either so am always struck when I return to Canada how everybody sounds as though they all watch the same TV show on which th expression started.

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kerouac2
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Re: Anything at all????
« Reply #9 on Mar 14, 2012, 10:39am »

Anyway, the usage of "at all" in negatives and questions dates back to the 1300's.

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