The suffix less makes regardless negative, adding the prefix ir is a blunder, a serious grammatical crime. Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and. One of my students tells me that irregardless is now a word, and apparently its been added to some dictionaries. She strives to be a friendly guide in the writing world. For example, people often ask me about irregardless, which people use when they mean. One word that gets a lot of vitriol is the word irregardless. Her tips are available in audio format as a podcast, in text format on her blog, and. Oct 27, 2011 irregardless is likely a blend of irrespective and regardless.
Regardless means without regard, because thats what happens when you add the suffix less to a. Irregardless originated in dialectal american speech in the early 20th century. Ron lit is back, and this time with a video on the way we police the grammar of teen girls. Millions of fans around the globe punctuate properly and communicate clearly thanks to mignon fogartys practical and easytoremember advice about writing style and word usage. In the phrase whether or not, the or not is often optional. Kennedy in her new book, irregardless of murder book one in the miss prentice cozy mystery series published by sheaf house publishers takes us into the life of amelia prentice. Floogetyflop isnt a wordi just made it up and you have no idea what it means. If the next word starts with a consonant sound, use a. As a noun, bail commonly refers to money deposited to gain a prisoners freedom, or bail that prisoner out. If the next word starts with a vowel sound, use an. Grammar girls 101 words to sound smart mignon fogarty. One of my students tells me that irregardless is now a word, and apparently its been. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that.
A bale is a large, bound or wrapped package of unprocessed material. Grammarly detects grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, and style mistakes as you write on just about any site on the web, email, word documents, social media, or on your own. Irregardless is a word and were dutybound to enter it. People have been using irregardless since at least the 1870s. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice. Mignon fogarty is the creator of grammar girl and the founder and managing director of quick and dirty tips. But no point drew as much ire as my claim that irregardless is a word. Amelia prentice, fortysomething high school english teacher whose pet peeve is the non word irregardless, trips over the corpse of a former.
A muchforwarded list of top 10 grammar peeves included the warning, irregardless is not a word, which inspired many people to look it up. And its not because the lexicographers working on these dictionaries have betrayed the english language by allowing such a mongrel of a word into them. Mignon fogarty grammar girl says, nearly all grammarians agree that its fine to end sentences with prepositions, at least in some. Think for a second about the logic behind the construction of the word irregardless. When the choice is up to you, you can generally use either whether or if. Oct 28, 2017 finding humor in the absurd and the ordinary. Even though 74 percent of respondents in a grammarly poll were convinced irregardless is not a word, it actually does show up in the dictionary. Aug 01, 2017 for years i have been frustrated by people using fake words such as irregardless, and it always showed me their lack of education, however, when i have been faced with editing my own work before publishing, i often check one of the common online dictionaries to be sure i had the correct word usage. Why do people say irregardless and where do we get words like sleuth, red herring, and gumshoe. So if irregardless means anything, it means not regardless when the person using it is trying to say the exact opposite. For some strange reason, this hideous word has slipped into the english. One of my favorite parts was the discussion of irregardless, which has. Grammar nerds might be disappointed to hear irregardless actually does show up in the dictionarybut it might not mean what you think.
Apr 17, 2017 all sorts of grammar and language issues are listed in this board. Mignon fogarty is the founder of, the author of the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and dirty tips. Her tips are available in audio format as a podcast, in text format on her blog, and as a fulllength, comprehensive book that is informative and fun to read. My last post, 12 mistakes nearly everyone who writes about grammar mistakes makes, drew a lot of comments, some supportive and some critical. One ignorantly demanded, show me a dictionary that actually contains that word. And yes, language does evolve, so sometimes new words and phrases come to the fore, or their usage changes over time like, literally. Click download or read online button to get i judge you when you use poor grammar book now. That said, its not part of standard english and so especially if youre. You can find all my books at amazon, barnes and noble or indiebound.
But we have some earthshattering news for grammar nerds. No matter how many times we say it, it never gets any less truelanguage does resemble a living thing. At the risk of an onslaught of mockery and jokes from my best friends who know this is my alltime biggest grammar pet peeve, i still must right this wrong. A magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has served as a senior editor an. Enjoy these tongueincheek grammar rules to avoid found on page 10. Parenthetical remarks however relevant are usually unnecessary. Im an english teacher in boston, massachusetts, and i am freaking out.
By any objective criterion, irregardless is a word. Weve all been taught to never, ever let that word slip out of our mouthsthe correct term would be regardless. Stamper reminds me of just how much fun people have with language, and how deeply we as readers are delighted when we are surprised by writersspeakers who are having. This book is for people who experience heartbreak over love notes with subjectverb disagreements. Aug 09, 2008 one word that gets a lot of vitriol is the word irregardless. Usage panelsand other smart peopleconsider the use of irregardless as a huge blunder. Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to mignon fogarty, aka grammar girl, whose toprated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 30 million times. As they discovered, it is a word although not one worth using. So yes, irregardless is a word you can find in most dictionaries. Brockenbrough is the founder of national grammar day and spogg the society for the promotion of good grammar and as serious as she is about proper usage, her.
Grammar girls 101 misused words youll never confuse. The secret life of dictionaries, lets me in on all the dirty little secrets of dictionarymaking a lot like making sausages, it turns out. Irregardless probably emerged as a confused blend of the synonyms irrespective and regardless. Jul 08, 2008 written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. That means a word starting with u or o, for example, can require a or an depending on the pronunciation. Charles harrington elster, author of verbal advantage and what in the word. Feb 02, 2012 a muchforwarded list of top 10 grammar peeves included the warning, irregardless is not a word, which inspired many people to look it up. Some words in the english language are so overused that we dont notice that they are incorrect or dont even exist. The prefix ir means the absence of, and the suffix less means the absence of. Oct 14, 2008 she also reminds us, inter alia, that irregardless is an irregular word, just as underwear is an irregular hat.
Someone couldnt figure out how to use irrespective or regardless and married the two, and irregardless was born. Irregardless is used in the same way you would use the word regardless. I judge you when you use poor grammar download ebook pdf. Grammar girls 101 misused words youll never confuse again. Im hoping to find more audiobooks in this series, as im blind. Aug 28, 2018 grammar girl provides short, useful tips on grammar that are easy to remember and easy to put into practice. Fine if you are working a mathematical equation, a big bugaboo in english grammar. Its the sound of the next word that determines the word choice, not the first letter. But you definitely need or not when you mean regardless of whether, as in, im out of here whether you like it or not. Irregardless, on the other hand, is in almost every dictionary labeled as nonstandard.
Mignon fogarty, grammar girl, wrote a nyt bestseller, grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. It turns out that there are a lot of similarities between the way we decide which words are ok to use and the way we categorize people into cliques. Usage controversy an easy way to elicit groans from your snooty peers is to pepper your conversation with the word irregardless. Huffington post, irregardless, metacommunication, sociolinguistics, standard english 28 comments my last post, 12 mistakes nearly everyone who writes about grammar mistakes makes, drew a lot of comments, some supportive and some critical. Regardless of what you may read or hear people say, irregardless is an unnecessary and illogical substitution for regardless. For some strange reason, this hideous word has slipped into the english language. Mignon fogarty, the creator of grammar girl and the founder of the quick and dirty tips network, is also the author of the new york times bestselling grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better.
Putting out the patrol for madeup words grammar and. Click download or read online button to get i judge you. This nonsense word results from confusing and combining regardless and irrespective. Mignon fogarty, grammar girl, wrote a nyt bestseller, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar girl mignon fogarty the grammar devotional. Mignon fogarty grammar girl says, nearly all grammarians agree that its fine to end sentences with prepositions, at least in some cases. Irregardless versus regardless grammar girl quick and dirty tips. If people would just think about it, whats that silly ir doing there.
Neal conan chatted with grammar girl mignon fogarty about her new book well, new in july, 101 misused words youll never confuse again. Etymology irregardless is likely a blend of irrespective and regardless. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. In my last post i argued that theres a clear difference between a word like irregardless and a nonword like flirgle. Mignon fogarty, the creator of grammar girl and the founder of the quick and dirty tips network, is also the author of the new york times bestselling grammar girls quick and dirty tips.
Irregardless is a bad word and a word you shouldnt use, but it is a word. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Some usage panels do say it is a word but counsel against its use. A few of these invaders, such as irregardless and preventative, have already cleared the fence, crossed their covert tunnels, and arrived safely in dictionaries. Things that make us sic martha brockenbrough macmillan. Regardless no pun intended of what some people may say, do not use the word irregardless ever again, or else stewie griffin will punish you.
Theres a travel tip of the day, style tip of the day, even a failure of the day. In the immortal words of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller. Mignon fogarty is the host of grammar girl and founder of quick and dirty tips. In grammar girl s 101 misused words youll never confuse again. And thats more stupid than irregardless will ever be. Irregardless is a real word youre just using it wrong business. Top ten grammar myths grammar girl quick and dirty tips. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. For example, if you say irregardless, it tags you as someone who is poorly educated or doesnt use proper language. It turns out that there are a lot of similarities between the way we decide which words are ok to use and the way we.