# It's "never mind", not "nevermind" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 3, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249 "2008-07-03T23:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/1 "2008-07-03T23:45:55Z")
Now that we have a five minute edit window, I keep seeing people having second thoughts and replacing their posts with a hasty “nevermind”. THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING WORD\*. Please forget about the Nirvana album of that name. The existence of that album does not make it a valid word. I don’t go around exclaiming “ummagumma” just because Pink Floyd decided to call one of their records that. - well, there is, according to some obscure dictionary entries, but not in the sense that they mean ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/2 "2008-07-03T23:55:10Z")
_ummagumma…_ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/3 "2008-07-03T23:55:20Z")
If, however, you’re channeling Emily Litella, it is indeed spelled that way to convey that it’s basically one word, no pause, no breath. Since I think I’m probably the poster who inspired this… ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/4 "2008-07-04T00:40:26Z")
It’s just going down the path that many a compound word has before. “Base ball” merged sometime in the early 1920’s, tho I am sure there were a few old timers who raged against said change. Stand in the path of the tsunami if you must and decry its unstoppable momentum, but the rest of us will happily go with the flow. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/5 "2008-07-04T00:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] It’s just going down the path that many a compound word has before. “Base ball” merged sometime in the early 1920’s, tho I am sure there were a few old timers who raged against said change. Stand in the path of the tsunami if you must and decry its unstoppable momentum, but the rest of us will happily go with the flow. [/QUOTE] I believe the word, or rather, words, you are looking for are: _tsu_ and _nami_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/6 "2008-07-04T01:13:56Z")
I’m always telling kids to refer to me by an anglo-saxon word which compounds ‘south’ and ‘settlement’. Should I stop? ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/7 "2008-07-04T01:29:23Z")
I use that word alot, and nothing you can say will stop me. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/8 "2008-07-04T01:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] I believe the word, or rather, words, you are looking for are: _tsu_ and _nami_. 😛 [/QUOTE] [hijack]Do you study Japanese? You separated the kana the right way! The characters are 津(tsu) and 波(nami).[/h] ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/9 "2008-07-04T01:33:14Z")
People get so inordinately snippy about minor matters of orthography. The spoken language, which is primary, doesn’t draw these distinctions, and how they are or aren’t represented in written language is frankly pretty arbitrary. That people don’t now or did once spell something with or without a space is such a piddling caprice of historical contingency; I have no idea how you can summon the emotion. [QUOTE=Usram] The existence of that album does not make it a valid word. [/QUOTE] Tell me, just who is the authority who decides what makes a valid word? I happen to think the words people use are the valid ones, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/10 "2008-07-04T01:37:57Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] [hijack]Do you study Japanese? You separated the kana the right way! The characters are 津(tsu) and 波(nami).[/h] [/QUOTE] Kanji. The kana would be tsu-na-mi: つ な み ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/11 "2008-07-04T01:44:19Z")
What ever. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/12 "2008-07-04T01:55:41Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Kanji. The kana would be tsu-na-mi: つ な み [/QUOTE] I mean she separated the kana into the appropriate kanji. He didn’t say “you mean the three words ‘tsu,’ ‘na,’ and ‘mi,’” or “you mean the two words ‘tsuna’ and ‘mi.’” We are both correct 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/13 "2008-07-04T02:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] If, however, you’re channeling Emily Litella, it is indeed spelled that way to convey that it’s basically one word, no pause, no breath. [/QUOTE] Cite? I hear it as two words when Emily says it. But it don’t make no nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/14 "2008-07-04T02:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] I mean she separated the kana into the appropriate kanji. He didn’t say “you mean the three words ‘tsu,’ ‘na,’ and ‘mi,’” or “you mean the two words ‘tsuna’ and ‘mi.’” We are both correct 😃 [/QUOTE] You are correct now, with what you meant to say. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/15 "2008-07-04T02:32:11Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] I don’t go around exclaiming “ummagumma” just because Pink Floyd decided to call one of their records that. [/QUOTE] Odelay, Candy-O? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/16 "2008-07-04T02:40:23Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/17 "2008-07-04T02:53:07Z")
According to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), nevermind is a word. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/18 "2008-07-04T02:56:50Z")
You prescriptivists kill me. Also: _ummagumma_ was a slang word for intercourse. The Floyd didn’t just pull that out of their asses. So, feel free to run about screaming ummagumma. I know I will. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/19 "2008-07-04T03:16:25Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] According to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), nevermind is a word. [/QUOTE] Yup. And I wouldn’t call [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) an obscure dictionary reference. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nevermind](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nevermind) > [@](#): > > nev·er·mind > –noun Older Use. > > 1. attention; heed; notice (usually used in negative constructions): Pay him no nevermind. > 2. business; affair; responsibility (usually used in negative constructions): It’s no nevermind of yours. > [Origin: 1930–35; n. use of v. phrase never mind] Note that “older use”; I grew up saying, “It don’t make no nevermind.” So it is a valid word, and I guess it’ll just have to be a valid word of which you personally happen to disapprove, along with all the other folks out there who have language pet peeves. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249/20 "2008-07-04T03:23:08Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] According to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), nevermind is a word. [/QUOTE] Yes, the OP said as much. But “nevermind”–per the dictionary–is a distinct word which does not mean the same thing as “never mind.” eta: I am not a prescriptivist. I do have several prescriptions, however, some of which are preventative. . [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-never-mind-not-nevermind/455249.md?page=2)