Is "irregardless" a word?

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is "irregardless" a word?

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:47:56 PM EDT

I just seems so redundant to me. Regardless means the same thing, so why add the "ir" to it? And wouldn't that make it a double negative? I always hear people using this "word" and it really gets on my nerves. So, are there any scholars out there that can tell me if this is a proper word or not?

brouhaha
Department of the Redundant Department

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:51:53 PM EDT

[#1]

I'm not a scholar, but I did not stay at a Holiday Inn last night. It is not a word, but it is used plenty.

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:52:30 PM EDT

[#2]

Why not just bitch about inflammable.

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:55:53 PM EDT

[#3]

Well,,, actually it is a word but it is listed at nonstandard. Sorry Larryg.

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:57:09 PM EDT

[#4]

Only if your da prez.![:D]

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:57:15 PM EDT

[#5]

I'm from Alabama, if you want it to be a word, it is a word.

Posted: 8/30/2001 6:59:46 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Well,,, actually it is a word but it is listed at nonstandard. Sorry Larryg.

View Quote

Where do it say dat??

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:02:06 PM EDT

[#7]

Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary.

And don't start rambling about it being a leftest rag or something. It's the only big dictionary I have.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:03:50 PM EDT

[#8]

regardless is a word, so are disregard and irregular, but not irregardless.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:05:01 PM EDT

[#9]

Well, it may be listed as a word, but classified as a corruption or colloquialism.

People of good breeding & education don't use it, and those who do should be spanked. To me, it's worse than using "ain't" - I think most folks using "ain't" actually know better; those using "irregardless" are clueless.

The word "regardless" serves just fine.

Another common misusage that irritates me is the conditional phrase "If I was..." instead of the correct "If I were..." Subjunctive! Just recently, I busted my fancy liberal-arts Ph.D cousin on this one.

-Bill Wiese
The Grammar Police
San Mateo, CA

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:06:26 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary.

And don't start rambling about it being a leftest rag or something. It's the only big dictionary I have.

View Quote

Damn leftist rag and furthermore...Oh, I forgot, you told me not to ramble about that. Sorry.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:07:29 PM EDT

[#11]

At least it's not just me [:D] I used to always give my fiance a hard time about saying it...until she stopped. Now I don't have anything to bitch about anymore [>:/]

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:08:56 PM EDT

[#12]

Is it just one of those words they added just because people use it(albeit incorrectly?)

"DOH!" has also been added to the Oxford English Dictionary because it has entered popular vernacular.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:09:31 PM EDT

[#13]

Regardless if it is used regularly it is still not a word; if it were then it would be a double negative therefore making the statement the opposite of what is intended. As a side note there is an instance when two positive words combined make a negative statement.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:09:59 PM EDT

[#14]

I'm sure a guy like you will come up with something brouhaha. Just think about it a little more.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:10:42 PM EDT

[#15]

Irregardless is common enough in speech in the U.S. that it has found its way into judicial opinions. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Chief Justice William Rehnquist "upbraided a lawyer who used irregardless, saying: "I feel bound to inform you there is no word irregardless in the English language. The word is regardless. Linguistic Fastidiousness is no less important in oral than written argument."

View Quote

[url]http://www.hfac.uh.edu/English/classes/GU4322/items/irregardless.html[/url]

It's a 'word', but people who use it are idiots.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:10:59 PM EDT

[#16]

SDavid-

Nail.

Head.

- Robbie

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:11:51 PM EDT

[#17]

I can't believe this is really a thread on a AR-15 forum. Well,,, irregardless of all the comments I guess it's okay.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:18:08 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
SDavid-

Nail.

Head.

- Robbie

View Quote

I don't get what you mean by that, I was thinking of something that a teenager would say when they don't believe what you are saying to them. (It also helps if you're surrounded by 1300 of them for six hours a day, 187 days a year.)

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:21:42 PM EDT

[#19]

He was telling SDavid that he hit the nail right on the head.

Either that or he wants to play with the head of SDavid's nail. Not sure.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:28:28 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:

Irregardless is common enough in speech in the U.S. that it has found its way into judicial opinions. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Chief Justice William Rehnquist "upbraided a lawyer who used irregardless, saying: "I feel bound to inform you there is no word irregardless in the English language. The word is regardless. Linguistic Fastidiousness is no less important in oral than written argument."

View Quote

[url]http://www.hfac.uh.edu/English/classes/GU4322/items/irregardless.html[/url]

It's a 'word', but people who use it are idiots.

View Quote

Amen. Good for Mr Rehnquist- a verbal bitch-slap in front of the whole SCOTUS- I wish I could have seen that....

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:28:59 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
It's a 'word', but people who use it are idiots.

View Quote

I are not a scholar of the language, but, what he said. LOL

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:47:49 PM EDT

[#22]

retrodog- I get it now, he was writing about my statement not the side note... I be guting it now.

Posted: 8/30/2001 7:54:59 PM EDT

[#23]

Perhaps in time it will be
deirregulated.

Posted: 8/30/2001 8:04:41 PM EDT

[#24]

according to [url]www.dictionary.com[/url]

ir·re·gard·less (r-gärdls)
adv. Nonstandard
Regardless.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Probably blend of irrespective, and regardless.]
Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.

Posted: 8/30/2001 9:25:54 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Why not just bitch about inflammable.

View Quote

What he said.

However, there is a reason [i]inflammable[/i] is a valid word - its root. From Merriam-Webster:

Etymology: French, from Medieval Latin [i]inflammabilis[/i], from Latin [i]inflammare[/i]

View Quote

[i]Irregardless[/i] doesn't have the same kind of paternity.

Posted: 8/30/2001 10:00:45 PM EDT

[#26]

I'am an english major. Irregardless iz opsolutlie knot a wird inn thy english languaje!! [:0]

Posted: 8/30/2001 10:04:23 PM EDT

[#27]

How about aint.

[(:|)]

Posted: 8/30/2001 10:11:24 PM EDT

[#28]

Any combination of letters(symbols)is a word if you can pronounce it and give it meaning.

Posted: 8/30/2001 10:15:53 PM EDT

[#29]

ir·re·gard·less [ìrri grdlss ] adverb
(nonstandard) See regardless

[Early 20th century. Origin uncertain: probably a blend of irrespective and regardless.]

Word Key: Usage Note
Nonstandard usage:
A moment's thought will reveal that since the prefix ir- means "not" (as it does in irrespective), and the suffix -less means "without," irregardless is an illogical double negative. As such it is to be avoided, in favor of irrespective or regardless.

[i][b]"If you're not part of the Solution,
you're part of the problem"[/i][/b]

sgb[;D]

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Is "irregardless" a word?

General » General Discussion

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us