Current Events > I guess that "irregardless" is officially a word

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/887649010/regardless-of-what-you-think-irregardless-is-a-word

Merriam-Webster raised the hackles of stodgy grammarians last week when it affirmed the lexical veracity of "irregardless."
The word's definition, when reading it, would seem to be: without without regard.
"Irregardless is included in our dictionary because it has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795," the dictionary's staff wrote in a "Words of the Week" roundup on Friday. "We do not make the English language, we merely record it."
Merriam-Webster defines irregardless as "nonstandard" but meaning the same as "regardless." "Many people find irregardless to be a nonsensical word, as the ir- prefix usually functions to indicates negation; however, in this case it appears to function as an intensifier," the dictionary writes.

"It's not a real word. I don't care what the dictionary says," responds author Michelle Ray, who teaches English in Silver Spring, Md.
"You say 'regardless.' Regardless of the fact," she tells NPR's Morning Edition. "Irregardless means not regardless. And that's not what you're trying to say at all. So why, in what context, would irregardless make sense? I can't understand it."
The brouhaha regarding the word seems to have started last week when a popular Twitter user took umbrage at Merriam-Webster's listing, decrying the death of the English language.
But irregardless was first included in Merriam-Webster's Unabridged edition in 1934, a spokesperson tells NPR. Other dictionaries, including Webster's New World College Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and the Cambridge Dictionary all recognize irregardless as a word.
It's not new.
The Charleston City Gazette of Charleston, Ga., used it as early as 1795, according to Merriam-Webster: "But death, irregardless of tenderest ties, Resolv'd the good Betty, at length, to bereave."

more @ link

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Thanks Karen

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I'm furious

you say potato i say potato

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Nope
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For all intensive purposes this means nothing to me.

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It's a perfectly cromulent word.

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This sounds so wrong

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SwayM posted...

For all intensive purposes this means nothing to me.

thats in tents man

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every word is a real word as soon as both the speaker and listener understand them the same way.

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I remember learning that Irregardless was a real word in college.

Just it wasnt use the way people were using it. The real use was way off.

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solosnake posted...

you say potato i say potato

It's pronounced potato you son of a bitch.

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boxington posted...

"It's not a real word. I don't care what the dictionary says," responds author Michelle Ray, who teaches English in Silver Spring, Md.
"You say 'regardless.' Regardless of the fact," she tells NPR's Morning Edition. "Irregardless means not regardless. And that's not what you're trying to say at all.

If this post were written on dry paper, it would be both flammable and inflammable.

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Id make a joke, but this one actually hits me in the chest.

Fuck Merriam-Webster.

Eliza3 posted...

boxington posted...
boxington posted...

"It's not a real word. I don't care what the dictionary says," responds author Michelle Ray, who teaches English in Silver Spring, Md.
"You say 'regardless.' Regardless of the fact," she tells NPR's Morning Edition. "Irregardless means not regardless. And that's not what you're trying to say at all.

If this post were written on dry paper, it would be both flammable and inflammable.

Inflammable has the word inflame as a root. Irregard is not a word.
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Words are descriptive of language, not the other way around. The dictionary should describe well worn vernacular. Irregardless is just informal language. English teachers can and should continue docking points for using it.

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We've really taken the English language for granite.

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solosnake posted...

thats in tents man

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Ivynn posted...

We've really taken the English language for granite.

I hole hardedly agree

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one more

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I could care less about irregardless

stupid people rule the world

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UnholyMudcrab posted...

Inflammable has the word inflame as a root. Irregard is not a word.

That's what you think...

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This is literally the worst thing to happen in the history of the universe

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Cambridge might, but does the Oxford dictionary consider it a word?

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It was always a word. Dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive.

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So long as "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing, while "bimonthy" means two completely different things, whatever.
English is a bit of a mess.

People define what makes a language, for better and worse.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

So long as "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing, while "bimonthy" means two completely different things, whatever.
English is a bit of a mess.

Yes this is definitely unique to English. Thanks for your usual brilliant observations

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The job of a dictionary is to document words as they are used. Which is why any dictionary that acts as one will have the normal definition of literally(as in, 100% factual) and the more modern usage where its just used in situations not 100% factual(Say, "my car broke down and I literally had to walk 500 miles to the nearest gas station")

So, if irregardless is being used a certain way, it is the duty and responsibility of Merriam Webster to record it.

More intellectual regression. Just what we needed.

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boxington posted...

"Irregardless is included in our dictionary because it has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795," the dictionary's staff wrote in a "Words of the Week" roundup on Friday. "We do not make the English language, we merely record it."

They're right. I'm passionate about language and they're right

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what is language

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Guerrilla Soldier posted...

what is language

infant shan't injure this individual
shan't injure this individual
not again

I could careless

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argonautweakend posted...

The job of a dictionary is to document words as they are used. Which is why any dictionary that acts as one will have the normal definition of literally(as in, 100% factual) and the more modern usage where its just used in situations not 100% factual(Say, "my car broke down and I literally had to walk 500 miles to the nearest gas station")

So, if irregardless is being used a certain way, it is the duty and responsibility of Merriam Webster to record it.

Tbf that modern usage of literally has also been around for a few centuries lol

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https://youtu.be/LZpVQPlTiBw

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