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Recently I saw some uses of the idiom thanks to in negative contexts. They sound strange to me, probably because thanks express a grateful feeling or acknowledgment of a benefit, so I thought thanks to would be used only in positive contexts.

Searching ELU I found this 2010 question and the accepted answer clearly states that

Thanks to has a positive connotation (unless used sarcastically).

Other answers in the same question also say that thanks to should be used in positive contexts.

Contrariwise, today I read this headline:

Memorial Day parades canceled, thanks to wet weather.

Also Dictionary.com show a negative context for thanks to:

The case went poorly thanks to the lawyer's incompetence.

I know that sarcastically thanks to can be used in any context, but at least the headline about the Memorial Day does not seem sarcastically to me.

Perhaps the question I mentioned earlier is outdated, as 6 years have passed, and now thanks to is also used in negative contexts? How does that sound to a native speaker of English?

TL;DR, Is thanks to (as a synonym for due to) used in negative contexts?

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gmauch
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    Oh, yes. Frequently in political discourse, anyway. "Insert tragedy, thanks to insert villain". – John Lawler May 30 '16 at 15:22
  • What do you think "sarcastically" means? Such usage has been reasonably common for half a century at least. – Hot Licks May 30 '16 at 17:24
  • @HotLicks, I meant to be used in a non-sarcastically connotation. I´ll edit the question to make that clear. – gmauch May 30 '16 at 17:26
  • How is "The case went poorly thanks to the lawyer's incompetence" not sarcastic? – Hot Licks May 30 '16 at 17:27
  • @HotLicks Agreed, but the the Memorial Day headline does not seem sarcastical... – gmauch May 30 '16 at 17:37
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    Whatever. Such usage is well-established and is not something new. – Hot Licks May 30 '16 at 17:44
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    It doesn't sound wrong. Native speakers don't tear apart the words to analyze their individual meanings- 'thanks to' just means 'because of', as kumar says. This can even be a source of humor- to point out the apparent dissonance. – Spehro Pefhany May 30 '16 at 17:48
  • I surmise the use of the words is still meant to be ironic, as If you didn't want to convey the sense of irony, there are better alternatives, like the what you just mentioned. Although N. Webster notes irony is "generally" made apparent through mannerisms or tonality, it can also be inferred from that qualifier, that this isn't always so. Trite jokes like this seem quite prone to the deadpan treatment in my opinion, since they are expected to be understood. Reporters also like using deadpan jokes to be comedic while remaining professional. – Tonepoet May 30 '16 at 20:09

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According to merriam webster, looks like it is used in place of "because of", just like it would mean in any sentence using "thanks to", positive or negative.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thanks%20to

v kumar
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