anyway vs if anything

anyway

adv
  • Used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement. See anyhow and at least. 

  • Used at the end of a question for emphasis, or to direct the conversation to something of more broad importance (compare with more to the point). 

  • Regardless; anyhow. 

  • Used to indicate a change of subject. 

if anything

adv
  • Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied). 

  • Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer. 

How often have the words anyway and if anything occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )