Is Irregardless A Word?

[Lightkeeper]

Is Irregardless a word or is it a misusage of regardless?

 

[dan]

I am not a purist, I just think that changing a language to suite the ignorant masses is not acceptable. I know languages evolve, but they've evolved in the past for reasons other than stupidity, and that's the way it should stay. And society has not decided that irregardless is a word. Didn't you read what I wrote? Society still says it is incorrect but used often.

 

[(Q)]

Society still says it is incorrect but used often.

hehe - Dan, you kill me.

 

[Ceridwen018]

but they've evolved in the past for reasons other than stupidity

What reasons are those?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Is Irregardless a word or is it a misusage of regardless?

Yes. So what.

 

[Lightkeeper]

This is a continuation of a discussion that was mixed in with another topic.

 

[(Q)]

This is a continuation of a discussion that was mixed in with another topic.

Coalesaddendum continussion, so to speak?

 

[Lightkeeper]

This is a continuation of a discussion that was mixed in with another topic.

Coalesaddendum continussion, so to speak?

That sounds like something you would need a colonoscopy for.

 

[dan]

What reasons are those?

I'll give you a couple of examples. Americans speak in the formal tongue at all times. In the past thou was informal. It was the equivalent of the Spanish "tu." Kings and Queens were addressed in the formal "your heiness, your majesty" and so on. Over time people just slowly started using "you" instead of "thou" because they liked sounding regal. It's not incorrect, it's just a way of showing more respect. The other way of speaking has gone extinct in English.

In some parts of South America they speak a kind of Spanish called Castellano. Thye speak in "vos," which is a contraction of the Spanish vosotros, from Spain. An example of a change in their language is the spelling of September. Normally it's spelled "septiembre," but the accent of the Castellano speakers makes that very hard to pronounce, so "setiembre" has also become acceptable in recent years. It's in many Spanish dictionaries. It's not incorrect, it just accounts for the evolution of the Spanish lagnuage. There are countless other examples like this in the Spanish language.

Another change has been they literary style of the translators of the King James Bible. Some people think everyone talked like that back then, but they didn't. The translators actually invented a new vernacular so they could maintain the accuracy of the translation. The Bible has been used by so many to teach reading and writing that this vernacular actually became commonplace. The English langauge didn't change much between then and now until the Bible was removed from the schools as a tool in teaching English. The inconsistency of other resources has a lot to do with the various dialects and errors found in speech around the U.S. today. Again, not wrong, just evolution.

There are many, many more examples, but it's late, I'm tired, and I have to work tomorrow.

 

[Ceridwen018]

I'll give you a couple of examples. Americans speak in the formal tongue at all times. In the past thou was informal. It was the equivalent of the Spanish "tu." Kings and Queens were addressed in the formal "your heiness, your majesty" and so on. Over time people just slowly started using "you" instead of "thou" because they liked sounding regal. It's not incorrect, it's just a way of showing more respect. The other way of speaking has gone extinct in English.

Then why do bibles and other documents which are written in Old English use 'thou' instead of 'you'. Don't you think they'd want to sound formal?

 

[Mr Spinkles]

That sounds like something you would need a colonoscopy for.

Lightkeeper, please use correct grammar! i.e. "That sounds like something for which you would need a colonoscopy."

As Winston Churchill said, "Ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which I will not put."

 

[dan]

Then why do bibles and other documents which are written in Old English use 'thou' instead of 'you'. Don't you think they'd want to sound formal?

No, you speak to God as if He were your father, not your king. He wants you to be very personal with Him.

 

[Lightkeeper]

Lightkeeper, please use correct grammar! i.e. "That sounds like something for which you would need a colonoscopy."

As Winston Churchill said, "Ending sentences with prepositions is something up with which I will not put."

No pun intended, butt isn't this a bit anal?

 

[Bastet]

Isn't this whole thread?

 

[Lightkeeper]

The thread was started because it was a conversation started in another topic. This is our new way of keeping the threads on topic.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Irregardless of whether it's anal or not, I say dan is right--it's not a word.

 

[Bastet]

I have no problem with starting new threads for off-topic subjects that come up within existing threads. Sounds like a good idea to me. I just think that some people's comments in this one were getting more than a little anal lol. And hey, I can be as anal as the next person (figuratively speaking ). So I think this is an anal topic...so what? Who cares? I was just having a little dig...LIGHTEN UP!
To answer the original question: Is irregardless a word? No. Will you find it in a dictionary? No. Will that stop people from using it? No. As much as it may annoy the anal among us (and I am including myself in that group), I don't think it's worth dissecting the linguistics of the English language to find out (or argue about) why people use it. So, I won't. Bye now...

 

[Ceridwen018]

Irregardless, irregardless, irregardless, irregardless...am I ticking anyone off yet?

It's funny, since this thread has been started, I've really noticed whether people around me say 'regardless' or 'irregardless'. A lot of them say 'irregardless', which has started to make me cringe.

 

[dan]

Try to pay attention to how many people say "newkyuler" instead of nuclear. People also say "heighth" and a bunch of other stuff. I probably would never notice it if it weren't for the fact that my English professors were always stressing the correct use of English words.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I know this may sound anal, but....I always wince when people say "the reason why"....that's redundant, folks! You should either say "the reason" or "why", but not both.