Over the local radio today, the DJ was mocking some people for using the prefix 'ir' on the word regardless. Indeed many non native English speakers use 'irregardless' when' it should only be 'regardless'. How did 'irregardless' come about? I don't know. It probably started because of some lookalike words such as 'irresponsible', 'irreversible'. For the word 'irresponsible', the 'ir' is prefixed to denote an opposite to the word 'responsible'. But for 'regardless', the suffix 'less' denotes that opposite effect, as in 'worthless' to 'worth'. So by adding the prefix 'ir', if you are permitted at all, to 'regardless', should bring you back to 'regard'?
I wonder, could 'consistency' be the last word to be added to the English vocabulary?
Regardless how you say it, it is regardless.
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