another view

[GarthB]

Originally posted by phillips.alex
irregardless is most definately a word. it means regardless. look in a dictionary, there's a whole bunch of other words as well. In case you can't find one, try merriamwebster.com

alex

The correct word is "regardless." "Irregardless" is not in my dictionary. It may have been added to some dictionaries because of its all too common usuage. This happens in language sometimes. Sometimes the illiterate win.

Here is the entry from the American Hertiage Dictionary:

ADVERB: Nonstandard Regardless.
ETYMOLOGY: 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.






[Edited by GarthB on Oct 26th, 2005 at 05:40 PM]