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The Debate over "Irregardless" -- is it a Word?

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 13 2020, @11:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the First-to-Fall dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/06/887540598/the-debate-over-the-word-irregardless-is-it-a-word

All right. Let's settle something here. The word irregardless - is it a word or is it not a word? Well, this is a debate that Merriam-Webster is now weighing in on in a tweet saying that it is, in fact, a word. And that has led to a whole lot of reaction online.

Merriam-Webster has confirmed that "irregardless" is a word in the dictionary, despite concerns from teachers that it is not.

So fellow Soylentils, irregardless of my opinion, what do your think?

See Also:
Is 'Irregardless' a Real Word?
Definition of irregardless

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by anubi on Monday July 13 2020, @12:44PM (6 children)

    by anubi (2828) on Monday July 13 2020, @12:44PM (#1020267) Journal

    Irregardless of the prefix, both mean the same thing.

    We park in driveways, and drive on parkways.

    It's an idiosyncracy of the English language.

    And it's always changing where the same word will have meanings as a function of where, when, who spoke it, how they spoke it, and to whom they spoke it.

    Something becomes a word when the right people start using it.

    Confused? Yeah, right.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 13 2020, @01:08PM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 13 2020, @01:08PM (#1020278) Journal

    We park in driveways, and drive on parkways.

    A cargo goes by ship and most shipments go by car.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @01:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @01:18PM (#1020282)

      No, cargo goes by car, shipments ment by ship.

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @03:13PM (3 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Monday July 13 2020, @03:13PM (#1020351) Homepage
    I reckon that people who desperately want to have a flammable word with a prefix should use *en*flammable. It's etymologically the same prefix as the one they use, what's called in some languages the transformative case - putting something into a new state - with plenty of cognate usage, but doesn't have the ambiguity in that rendering.

    And as a sign of good will and compromise, the "non" in-ers should withdraw from that territory to *un* instead, again using the same justifications as the *en* retreat.

    And finally there will be peace in the middle east.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

    • (Score: 1) by petecox on Monday July 13 2020, @05:48PM (2 children)

      by petecox (3228) on Monday July 13 2020, @05:48PM (#1020534)

      The verb is 'inflame'. In this case "flammable" is awry. But because of words like impotent and inept, confusion reigned.

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday July 13 2020, @06:29PM (1 child)

        by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Monday July 13 2020, @06:29PM (#1020554) Homepage
        The verb you are thinking of *happens to have been first rendered in English* as "inflame", but given that it came straight from the old french "enflammer", wouldn't you accept that perhaps we made a mistake in that rendering when we inherited the word?

        Of course, the elefant in the room is the fact that you are conflating the -able word with the verb. What english verb do you think the -able word "amiable" comes from?
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:14PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 13 2020, @08:14PM (#1020644)

          Amo, amas, amat? Qui questiones?