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.

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

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.

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.

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.

The Word Nerd can’t find how this mistake was originally made or why it is so common.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.