Merriam-Webster - Irregardless lyrics

Welcome to Ask the Editor. I'm Kory Stamper, an Associate Editor at Merriam-Webster. We are often asked—by people who clearly don't recognize that we are merely lexicographers—to blot out all evidence of a particular word from the language. Not surprisingly, one target of lexical contempt is the word "irregardless." Yep, I said: the word "irregardless." Despite the conviction among many that "irregardless" is not a real word, it is. It's so real in fact that it's entered into our dictionaries. Now, before you stalk off in disgust to write us an angry letter—you can address those directly to me, by the way—hear us out. "Irregardless" first was used in dialectical American speech in the early 20th century. And it was and has remained somewhat common in spoken English. It's even appeared in edited written prose and in reputable publications. "Irregardless" has an easily discerned definition; it has a part of speech and an etymology. It is a series of speech sounds that symbolizes and communicates a meaning without being divisible into smaller units capable of independent use. It is, by use and definition, a word. But just because a word's a word doesn't necessarily mean you should use it. Even we at Merriam-Webster, accused of being overly permissive descriptivists, warn that "irregardless" is nonstandard. We encourage you to use "regardless" instead. If you do use "irregardless," prepare to be corrected and accused of ignorance. On the other hand, saying that "irregardless" is not a real word—in spite of all the evidence to the contrary—is just a different kind of ignorance. For more episodes of Ask the Editor, visit our site merriam-webster.com.