- 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 mere 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 means you should use it.
Even we at Merriam-Webster,
accused of being overly permissive descriptivists,
warn that irregardless is non-standard.
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.