Regardless vs. Irregardless

A colleague approached the Word Nerd to ask about the differences between regardless and irregardless. Simply put, irregardless is not recognized as a word by many dictionaries (including the Word Nerd’s dictionary of choice the Canadian Oxford). However, dictionary.com lists irregardless as a “non-standard” word that can be used for emphasis. Unless you happen to have a PhD in English grammar and are known for your word nerdish ways, I would not recommend using irregardless as many people consider the use of this word to be a mark of ignorance.

Irregardless contains a double negative - ”ir” and “less” – which renders its meaning hard to understand. Regardless (an adjective) means “without consideration.” For example: Regardless of the cost, we are going to take the kids to Disneyland next year.

Why spelling and grammar are important

Spelling and grammer are important to learn so you don’t make mistakes like this one: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100811/canada/america_s_educational_system_captured_in_a_single_photo

What gift to you give to a Word Nerd?

Dictionaries! The Word Nerd recently received two excellent dictionaries for a birthday gift. The first one is an etymoloigcal dictionary (one that gives the origin and/or history of a word or phrase) and a pirate dictionary. The Word Nerd didn’t even know pirate dictionaries existed so is doubly excited by this thoughtful gift. Here is an entry from How to Speak Pirate by Geordie Telfer.

Dolly Shop: a shop ostensibly selling marine supplies, but in reality, a clearinghouse for stolen goods.

Double Negatives

Your high school English teacher probably told you that double negatives are always incorrect. Almost any native English speaker will be able to tell you that the following sentence isn’t correct.

I ain’t done nothing wrong.

The two negatives (ain’t and nothing) cancel each other out so the sentence means that the speaker has, in fact, done something wrong. (Let’s forget about the slang ain’t in this example!)

However, in some cases, a double negative can be used for good effect.

It is not at all unlikely that the political candidate will speak publicly about his drug use.

Does this mean that the politician will or will not speak about the drug use? Your guess is as good as the Word Nerd’s. This type of sentence construction is often used to insert ambiguity into the conversation. It is grammatically correct and can add considerable interest to your conversations.

A Great Blog to Pass On

This blog post is too good not to share. http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/so-not-an-expert/2010/07/isnt-spelling-important-anymore.html Enjoy!

Whadd’ya At?

Fresh back from a trip to Atlantic Canada, the Word Nerd offers you another Newfie expression! Whadd’ya at roughly translates as “what are you at?” and means “how are you?” It is a greeting that can confuse the uninitated. For more information on this expression, see the Great Big Sea song lyrics here: http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/great-big-sea-lyrics/what-are-you-at-lyrics.html

Sure B’y

The Word Nerd it heading to the Atlantic provinces (including a trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland) and wanted to leave readers with a Newfie expression.

Sure b’y – is a expression of disbelief. An example:

I plan on winning the lottery, quitting my job and travelling the world.

Sure b’y.

Newfoundland and Labrador are well known for folks with accents and sayings very different from the rest of Canada. The Word Nerd will try to learn some new expressions and idioms to share once she’s back from her trip.

A special request: Affect and Effect

The Word Nerd received a special request to help a coworker learn when to use affect and when to use effect. There is very good reason to be confused by these two words because they both have verb and noun forms.

The most common ways to use these to words is for affect to be a verb (meaning to cause change) and effect to be a noun (meaning a result). Here are some examples:

Tom’s migraines were affected by the sudden change in weather.

The effect of the long car ride was two motion-sick children and a tired dad.

Affect can also be used as a noun when it means feeling or emotion. This use is most common in medicine or psychology.

The patient presented with a flat affect. (Meaning that the patient did not display any emotion and had a neutral expression.)

Effect can be used as a verb that means to bring about a change. It is worth noting that the verb use of effect must always include an object.

The new safety equipment effected a positive change in the injury rate at the plant.

A great article from CNN

Check out this article on typos and the benefits of proper proofreading from CNN contributor, Bob Greene. http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/16/greene.typo/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular

Commonly Confused Words

Earlier this week, the Word Nerd was writing a piece for work and wanted to use the word penultimate, assuming that it meant absolutely ultimate or that nothing can beat it. Fortunately, the Word Nerd used the trusty Canadian Oxford Dictionary to double check the spelling and learned that penultimate actually means the last but one as in the penultimate act of a play (the second last act). The dictionary actually notes that a common mistake is to think that penultimate means absolutely ultimate (so the Word Nerd is in good company).

The Word Nerd can’t find how this mistake was originally made or why it is so common. Language certainly changes over time so maybe the mistake will become the new meaning; however, until the mistake is recognized in the dictionary as being an acceptable meaning — stick to ultimate when you mean something is unsurpassable.