2020-10-23
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด I – Irregardless – regardless
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Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง irregardless = ‘ir-i-GAHRD-lis’
ออกเสียง regardless = ‘ri-GAHRD-lis’
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language,
ir·re·gard·less (ĭr′ĭ-gärd′lĭs) adv. Nonstandard
Regardless. [Probably blend of irrespective (of) and regardless.]
Usage Note:
Irregardless is a word that many people
mistakenlybelieve to be correct in formal style,
when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing.
The word was coined in the United States in the early 1900s, presumably from a blend of irrespective and regardless.
Many critics have complained that it is a redundancy,
the negative prefix ir- duplicating the negativity of the -less suffix.
Perhaps its reputation as a blend of ill-fitting parts
has caused someto insist that it is a "nonword,"
a charge they would not think of leveling at a nonstandard word with a longer history, such as ain't.
Since people use irregardless,
it is undoubtedly a word in the broader sense of the language,
but it has never been accepted in Standard English
and is virtually always changed by copyeditors to regardless.
The Usage Panel has roundly disapproved of its use since polling began; in 2012, 90 percent found the sentence A scientist investigating a social issue should seek to find out the truth, irregardless of its political implications to be unacceptable.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary,
usage:
irregardless is considered nonstandard
because of the two negative elements ir- and -less.
Those who use the word, including on occasion educated speakers,
may do so from a desire to add emphasis.
irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Dictionary.com
USAGE NOTE FOR IRREGARDLESS
Some people use Irregardless to mean the same thing as regardless,
but it is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less.
It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable.
Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis.
Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
Is 'Irregardless' a Real Word?
It has come to our attention lately that
there is a small and polite group of people who are not overly fond of the word irregardless.
This group, who we might refer to as the disirregardlessers,
makes their displeasurewith this word known by calmly and rationally
explaining their position
... oh, who are we kidding ... the disirregardlessers make themselves known by writing angry letters to us for defining it, and by taking to social media to let us know that "IRREGARDLESS IS NOT A REAL WORD" and "you sound stupid when you say that."
We define irregardless,even though this act hurts the feelings of many. Why would a dictionary do such a thing? Do we enjoy causing pain? Have we abdicated our role as arbiter of all that is good and pure in the English language? These are all excellent questions (well, these are all questions), and you might ask them of some of these other fine dictionaries, all of whom also appear to enjoy causing pain through the defining of tawdry words.
Irregardless: Regardless
— The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 2018
Irregardless: In nonstandard or humorous use: regardless.
— The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, 1976
Irregardless: without attention to, or despite the conditions or situation; regardless
— Cambridge Dictionary (dictionary.cambridge.org), 2018
The reason we, and these dictionaries above, define irregardless is very simple:
it meets our criteria for inclusion. This word has been used by a large number of people (millions) for a long time (over two hundred years) with a specific and identifiable meaning ("regardless").
The fact thatit is unnecessary, as there is already a word in English with the same meaning (regardless) is not terribly important; it is not a dictionary's job to assess whether a word is necessary before defining it.
The fact thatthe word is generally viewed as nonstandard, or as illustrative of poor education, is likewise not important; dictionaries define the breadth of the language, and not simply the elegant parts at the top.
We must confess that of the charges leveled against irregardless, the one asserting that it is not actually a word puzzles us most.
If irregardless is not a word, then what is it, and why is it exciting so many people who care about words?
Of course it is a word. You may, if you like, refer to it as a bad word, a silly word, a word you don't like, or by any one of a number of other descriptors, but to denythat a specific collection of letters used by many people for hundreds of years to mean a definite thing is a word is to deny the obvious.
As a way of demonstrating why we enter some words in the dictionary and not others let's look at irregardless's less attractive and less successful cousin, unregardless.
This has shown periodic use over the past 150 or so years, and, like irregardless, has appeared in print in a variety of formats.
"Allons bon!" cries a passerby, unregardless of the poor man's mishap, "Monsieur est done côté à la Bourse!"
— The Morning Chronicle (London, Eng.) 25 Jan. 1859
...to find even in all that appears most trifling or contemptible, fresh evidence of the constant working of the Divine power "for glory and for beauty," and to teach it and proclaim it to the unthinking and the unregardless....
— John Ruskin, Modern Painters, 1886
Friday—well I gess I will be having to go to skool unregardless of evry thing I can do.
— The Neshoba Democrat (Philadephia, MS), 12 Sept. 1929
So why do we define irregardless, but omit unregardless from our dictionary?
One reason isthat of scale: for every unregardless found in print there are a hundred or more examples of irregardless.
Another reasonis consistency of intent: the people writing unregardless do not appear to all have the same meaning in mind.
Sometimes it functions as a synonym of regardless, and other times it appears to carry the meaning of "unthinking, or uncaring."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Frequently Asked Questions About irregardless
Is irregardless a word?
Yes. It may not be a word that you like, or a word that you would use in a term paper, but irregardless certainly is a word.
It has been in use for well over 200 years, employed by a large number of people across a wide geographic range and with a consistent meaning. That is why we, and well-nigh every other dictionary of modern English, define this word.
Remember that a definition is not an endorsement of a word’s use.
Does irregardless mean the same thing as regardless?
Yes. We define irregardless 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.
Similar ir- words, while rare, do exist in English, including irremediless ("remediless"), irresistless ("resistless") and irrelentlessly ("relentlessly).
Is irregardless slang?
We label irregardless as “nonstandard” rather than “slang.”
When a wordis nonstandard
it means it is “not conforming in pronunciation, grammatical construction, idiom,
or word choice to the usage generally characteristic of educated native speakers of a language.”
Irregardless is a long way from winning general acceptance as a standard English word. For that reason, it is best to use regardless instead.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Irregardless
Many people are of the opinion that using irregardless unironically (irironically?)
makes a person appear less intelligent.
You may decide this for yourselves, for the indicators of intelligence are peculiar to each of us, and vary widely.
For instance, some lexicographers have been known to claim that it is loudly declaiming “irregardless is NOT a word” that makes someone appear less intelligent. Every major modern dictionary defines irregardless, because it is a word.
Anyone who has a problem with this can meet us behind school later today to settle this the old fashioned way: with copious citations of use in published, edited prose over the past 225 years.
'Irregardless'
Irregardless is included in our dictionary because it has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795. We must warn you, gentle readers, that there are some other words which appear for the first time this very same year that we define in our dictionary. Yes! We have allowed entry to such Johnnies-come-lately as bewhiskered, citizenry, and terrorism, all of which have their earliest written evidence the same year as irregardless.
We do not make the English language, we merely record it. If people use a word with consistent meaning, over a broad geographic range, and for an extended period of time chances are very high that it will go into our dictionary. As a way of showing why we included irregardless we have decided to show but a small portion of the citations that we have of this word’s use.
But death, irregardless of tenderest ties, Resolv’d the good Betty, at length, to bereave.
— Charleston City Gazette (Charleston, GA), 23 Jun, 1795
He was quite willing to go forward as the corrector of those abuses which really did exist, and the removal of which wold be beneficial to the interests of the country, but he was decidedly opposed to those ill-advised and useless innovations, brought forward irregardless of the dangers and injuries they might inflict on the country.
— The Morning Post (London, Eng.), 30 Jul. 1847
Or is it because the bloodhound spirit of an office-seeker will track any victim so that he can but secure the spoils irregardless of any incumbent, however faithful, honest, or competent he be?
— The Washington Union (Washington, D.C.), 13 Jul. 1849
The well-regulated family forms the best prototype for a school, and we would not regard him to be an enlightened father, who prescribed a certain routine for his children—a routine in which they were to be instructed, irregardless of any discovery that might be made in the onward path of improvement—a routine which would cut them off, and deprive them from entering with generous emulation in the race of improvement—in the perpetual progress of man to perfection without the possibility of arriving at it.
— The People’s Advocate (Sydney, Aus.), 8 Mar. 1851
On his way from London to his residence … he determined to drive home, irregardless of his family’s entreaties to stop for the night.
— The Observer (London, Eng.), 18 Jul. 1853
…and, further, because they have urged that all who are now earnest and faithful endorsers and supporters of the national democratic platform are democrats worthy of the confidence and patronage od the party, irregardless of what they have heretofore been, provided only that their actions and professions correspond.
– Daily Union (Washington, D.C.), 4 Nov. 1853
This is when, irregardless of circumstances, men have identified themselves with those systems of reform.
— Joseph B. Davis, A Sermon Preached at Manchester, NH, 1854
…not political tricksters and demagogues who pull the wires to suit themselves, but men of sterling integrity and moral worth who will do all in their power for the right irregardless of the whims of politicians.
— Washington Reporter (Washington, PA), 24 Jun. 1857
He had endeavored to discharge his duty fearlessly in this case, irregardless of those who may consider this discourse discourteous to the “Plugs.”
— The Baltimore Sun, 25 Jan. 1859
We have cried prematurely, we have legislated for them in every direction, irregardless of the facts of their being wanted, or their management when wanted.
— Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (New York, NY), 16 Jul. 1859
She thought of him as few would think of a discarded suitor; she knew him as a proud, haughty man of the world, who was sufficiently wealthy himself to have sought her, irregardless of her own.
— Harper’s Weekly (New York, NY), 3 Sept. 1859
If, at a certain hour in the evening, say as the dusk is falling, she laid her infant to rest, irregardless of its open eyes and remonstrances and lung appeals, she would find her reward in a short time by seeing the little one at the certain hour drop carelessly away to slumber, and allow its possibly jaded nurse her evening for self-recreation.
— New York Atlas (New York, NY), 19 Feb. 1860
…from the fact that tenants are unwilling to remain at the mercy of an unscrupulous ferry company, whose only desire appears to be to make money, irregardless of the wants of the public in both cities.
— The New York Herald, 23 Apr. 1860
General Hall’s staff, with one or two exceptions were of very little service to him during the drill, as they appeared to be riding around the field irregardless of their position.
— The New York Herald, 29 May 1860
To use a homely phrase, the Times knows “which side the bread is buttered;” and it distinguishes itself from many of its contemporaries by playing the winning game, irregardless of principle, and spices its sycophancy with sufficient censoriousness to make it palatable.
— Isle of Wight Observer (Isle of Wight, Eng.), 9 Feb. 1861
The affair was gotten up irregardless of expense, and the large and respectable company of guests that participated in the affair attests the high respectability of the corps.
— New York Daily Herald, 10 Feb. 1861
The Democrats are going into this campaign “irregardless” of party.
— New Hampshire Statesman (Concord, NH), 16 Feb. 1861
He was the bearer of messages from commercial men in the South to English merchants in reference to opening a trade with the South irregardless of the federal blockade.
— New York Daily Herald, 29 Jan. 1862
It has been stated that the Commissioner of the General Land Office, the Hon. J. M. Edmunds, irregardless of the wants and necessities of the manifest interest of the Pacific Railroad … has conceived it to be his official duty to cross fire with President Lincoln….
— The Leavenworth Bulletin (Leavenworth, KS), 13 Dec. 1862
The Management has the honor of informing his numerous friends and patrons that during the close of the “Opera” the entire place has been renovated and fitted up in a style of elegance and beauty irregardless of expense, and it now ranks as the most magnificent Music Hall not only in the city but in the United States.
— Sunday Dispatch (Philadelphia, PA), 15 Nov. 1863
The people in this city are beginning to awake from the lethargy superinduced by the long-winded bulletins of the War Department announcing victory, and they now discuss this case irregardless of what Secretary Stanton writes or says, and make their own conclusions.
— Daily State Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN), 3 Jun. 1864
The farmers are permitted to come, irregardless of their political sentiments, to a place on the margin of the Shenandoah, near the town, where a market is held daily.
— Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (New York, NY), 8 Oct. 1864
But our Surgeon, irregardless alike of either privilege or regulation, in his desire to aid in beating the enemy, allowed his enthusiasm to get mastery over his prudence….
— Frederick E. Cushman, History of the 58th regt. Massachusetts, 1865
The next trial between the vessels will be in regard to the speed of the engines, both engines to run to learn which can make a greater number of revolutions within a given time, irregardless of limit of the supply of coal or the quantity of steam.
— The New York Herald, 27 Sept. 1865
I agree to supply whatever amount they engage, without fail, irregardless of short crops or bad weather.
— New England Farmer (Boston, MA), 1 Dec. 1866
But this man was in earnest, and he showed it by forgetting his bodily suffering, by pushing himself on the notice of Jesus Christ, and by pleading for nercy irregardless of those who heard him.
— Cambridge Independent Press (Cambridge, Eng.), 13 Apr. 1867
Judge Noonan has applied to the Governor for permission to summon jurors irregardless of the test oath ordered to be administered by General Griffin, knowing that such a jury as required cannot be found in his upper counties.
— Flake’s Bulletin (Galveston, TX), 3 Oct. 1867
Mr. Dicks said he should be very happy to hand over the duties and salary of collecting to these or any other gentlemen who did not mind going, as he had gone, eight, and even sixteen times, to get 2s., irregardless of distance, say to Sumertown or Littlemore.
— Jackson’s Oxford Journal (Oxford, Eng.), 25 Jan. 1868
By request of a number of Union Republican voters of East Liberty and vicinity, irregardless of ward lines, the Union Republican voters of East Liberty and vicinity, will please meet at Beitler’s School House.
— Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, 14 Aug. 1868
Mollie, do you agree to take Jim, and live with him, and go to Cheyenne with him, and stay with him irregardless of law and consequence?
— The Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 1869
The forty-third section, providing that all children (irregardless of color) shall be received into the public schools on pain of fine and imprisonment, was adopted.
— The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 11 Feb. 1870
They become irregardless of consequences, reckless, miserable—not on account of high wages, but from a false education.
— Bellows Falls Times (Bellows Falls, VT), 18 Feb. 1870
Let us give exact justice to all, irregardless of color or sex.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 Jun. 1870
The experience of past years should teach sticklers for the old principle of quantity irregardless of quality, that it is an unprofitable principle—one which, in tho long run, will bring its followers to grief.
— Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, Aus.), 11 Feb. 1871
There are other Companies doing business in the State that will probably share the same fate, if they continue to do business irregardless of the State law on the subject.
— Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, OH), 17 Feb. 1871
…But he felt he was the servant of the people, and irregardless of any party or personal relations, he accommodated all.
— Leavenworth Daily Commercial (Leavenworth, KS), 5 Nov. 1871
The argument is, the state is powerless—the federal government must interfere—Brown cannot act irregardless of law, Grant may—and this is sufficient reason for flooding the state with federal military….
— The Kansas City Times (Kansas City, MO), 1 May 1872
Pupils should be well classified, and so kept, irregardless of the particular desires of partial relatives.
— The Placer Herald (Rocklin, CA), 1 Jun. 1872
…But for the ambitious cliques who have badgered Supervisors and bored Legislatures to secure the location for “our beautiful village,” irregardless of the convenience of the masses.
— The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 30 Jul. 1872
He was not discovered until he had begun his work, when, upon being perceived, one of the aforesaid guard, irregardless of consequences, and with unequaled bravery, demanded by what right he (the owner) dared remove a piece of property which, by the “Squatter Sovereignty Law,” had long since passed out of his hands.
— St. Landry Democrat (Opelousas, LA), 8 Mar. 1873
The hight (sic) of his ambition seems to be to procure the best artists in the profession irregardless of expense, in order to present an entertainment which will command public approval, and in this he never fails.
— Austin American Statesman (Austin, TX), 19 Jun. 1873
Party lines will be almost entirely ignored this coming canvass, and the people will vote for the best men, irregardless of party.
— San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Jul. 1873
Perhaps I had better not, for politics in this town are so much mixed up with religious and temperance affairs, hard money and paper money, tariff and anti-tariff, irregardless of party predilections, that it would puzzle a smarter man than myself to tell which is which.
— The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, IL), 15 Jul. 1875
For Sale Cheap. Several second hand sewing machines of popular Manufacturer warranted in good order, and will be sold irregardless of cost as I am closing up business preparatory to a change of territory.
— The Oxford Leader (Oxford NC), 28 Sept. 1875
In the Prussian service all hygienic responsibility ended when a warm hospital building was secured, irregardless of bad air.
— Medical and Surgical Reporter, 14 Aug. 1875
We shall place our exchanges on file in the room, and cordially invite all persons, irregardless of party, to drop in and post up on political matters.
— Columbus Courier (Columbus, KS), 13 Ju. 1876
Individually, at least, I am in favor of the education of the whole country, irregardless of race, color, or previous condition.
— Report of the sub-committee of the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate, 1877
To be sold irregardless of cost the splendid collection of Chinese and Japanese goods, at no. 604 Washington avenue.
— St.Louis Dispatch (St. Louis, MO), 27 Dec. 1877
If they succeed, we will guarantee them an unanimous re-election, if desired, “irregardless” of party lines.
— Helena Weekly Herald (Helena, MT), 14 Mar. 1878
Every mother’s son of us, Sir, from me down to the humblest individooal in the village, and irregardless of everything else, must jist turn to and experience infidelity, by thunder, and dedycate ourselves anew to its service with all our mights, minds, strengths, and gizzrds, by thunder!
— The New York Times, 7 Mar. 1886
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary
IRREGARDLESS – REGARDLESS
Regardless of what you have heard,
“irregardless” is a redundancy.
The suffix “-less”on the end of the word already makes the word negative.
It doesn’t needthe negative prefix “ir-” added to make it even more negative.
