#teamregardless
Regardless Of What You Think, ‘Merriam-Webster’ Says ‘Irregardless’ Is A Word:
“Irregardless is included in our dictionary because it has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795,” the dictionary’s staff wrote in a “Words of the Week” roundup on Friday. “We do not make the English language, we merely record it.”
Merriam-Webster defines irregardless as “nonstandard” but meaning the same 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,” the dictionary writes.
I don’t think the correct argument is that “irregardless” isn’t a word. Obviously, it is. The correct argument is that it means exactly the same thing as “regardless”—the “ir” isn’t an intensifier at all—and that because it’s “nonstandard” people who use it sounds like morons.