# Would you vote for someone irregardless of there grammer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916 "2010-09-24T18:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/41 "2010-09-27T15:06:20Z")
I is a donut! ---
**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:** [September 27, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/42 "2010-09-27T15:26:26Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I is a donut! Your very unique in that respect. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/43 "2010-09-27T15:42:17Z")
I hate the word “guestimate” as well, as if an “estimate” isn’t somewhat of a “guess” already. I also rag my friends and kids for saying “irregardless”. Lazy language should be ridiculed at every opportunity. Now if I could just learn to type… ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/44 "2010-09-27T15:43:51Z")
If it’s because English is their second language or because they’re speaking informally, sure. If it’s because they’re an idiot, probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/45 "2010-09-27T15:44:43Z")
I’ll tell you one thing. If the candidate used “breaks” to describe the things that make his car slow down, I wouldn’t vote for him if he were J.C. himself. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/46 "2010-09-27T15:46:24Z")
Lazy language is a very poor descriptor of what you’re talking about. Languages change. Many of the “correct” usages today would be considered “lazy” in the past. I hope you’re not one of those guys who bristles at split infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/47 "2010-09-27T17:50:41Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Lazy language is a very poor descriptor of what you’re talking about. Languages change. Many of the “correct” usages today would be considered “lazy” in the past. I hope you’re not one of those guys who bristles at split infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition. I never let my kids say..“can I go with”? I’d say “with WHAT” If one of them said “Dad, do you have a dollar”? I’d say “yes I do” and walk away. And the one that really irked me was “Can you borrow me a dollar?” I’d say “Why should I? I have a dollar.” It pissed them off, but at least around me they learned to use proper grammar. Or if they said “I itched it” instead of I SCRACHED it" I hate that. Lazy language is lazy language. It only changes because people just give up and accept it. Like “aint” “Irregardless” is not a word. “Regardless” is. The “T” in often is SILENT. Off-en not Off-TEN. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/48 "2010-09-27T17:56:17Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > [QUOTE=BigT] > > That is, oddly, proper English. The predicate nominative does not take the objective case. Says who? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Says everyone who’s bothered to learn how to speak English correctly. The fact that 100 years ago people got chills hearing the kids say “Good bye” rather than “God be with you” doesn’t change the fact that when people hear non-standard (i.e., poor) grammar today, they think less of that person’s, let’s say, educational experiences. If you want to sound like a doofus because all your friends sound like doofuses, go for it. Doesn’t make it correct. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/49 "2010-09-27T18:09:14Z")
Pfft. I live in the land of Richard M. Daley. These sorts of diction errors wouldn’t even blip my radar. Trust me, if this gets your knickers in a twist, you don’t _ever_ want to hear our local pols talking. So, not a big deal. While I do not use the word, “irregardless” is perfectly fine colloquially. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/50 "2010-09-27T18:16:59Z")
Is using an (arguably) non-existent word a grammatical error, or a semantic one? Or some other kind of linguistic error? I personally don’t see how it’s a grammatical error. If we assume, for the moment, that “irregardless” is a word that functions in a similar way to “regardless”, then the person in the OP’s link used it in a grammatically correct way, as far as I can see. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/51 "2010-09-27T18:23:13Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > > [@John\_Mace](#): > > > > Lazy language is a very poor descriptor of what you’re talking about. Languages change. Many of the “correct” usages today would be considered “lazy” in the past. I hope you’re not one of those guys who bristles at split infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition. > > I never let my kids say..“can I go with”? I’d say “with WHAT” If one of them said “Dad, do you have a dollar”? I’d say “yes I do” and walk away. > > And the one that really irked me was “Can you borrow me a dollar?” I’d say “Why should I? I have a dollar.” It pissed them off, but at least around me they learned to use proper grammar. > > Or if they said “I itched it” instead of I SCRACHED it" I hate that. > Lazy language is lazy language. It only changes because people just give up and accept it. Like “aint” “Irregardless” is not a word. “Regardless” is. The “T” in often is SILENT. Off-en not Off-TEN. As they say, I bet you’re fun at parties. As for “often” tell it to the queen. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/52 "2010-09-27T18:28:03Z")
BTW, it seems to me that she says “and the challenge is… is to have representatives”, rather than “the challenges is to have representatives”, as some have asserted here. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/53 "2010-09-27T18:45:22Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > > [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > > > Says who? :dubious: > > Says everyone who’s bothered to learn how to speak English correctly. The fact that 100 years ago people got chills hearing the kids say “Good bye” rather than “God be with you” doesn’t change the fact that when people hear non-standard (i.e., poor) grammar today, they think less of that person’s, let’s say, educational experiences. > > If you want to sound like a doofus because all your friends sound like doofuses, go for it. Doesn’t make it correct. “This is her” _is_ proper English. You know why? Because out of the two constructions “this is her” and “this is she”, the former is about five hundred million billion trillion times more common than the latter in every day speech. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/54 "2010-09-27T19:01:51Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > > [@legalsnugs](#): > > > > Says everyone who’s bothered to learn how to speak English correctly. The fact that 100 years ago people got chills hearing the kids say “Good bye” rather than “God be with you” doesn’t change the fact that when people hear non-standard (i.e., poor) grammar today, they think less of that person’s, let’s say, educational experiences. > > > > If you want to sound like a doofus because all your friends sound like doofuses, go for it. Doesn’t make it correct. > > “This is her” _is_ proper English. You know why? Because out of the two constructions “this is her” and “this is she”, the former is about five hundred million billion trillion times more common than the latter in every day speech. That just makes it vulgar, not correct. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/55 "2010-09-27T19:04:48Z")
Nope, correct. It’s widely used and universally understood. What other standard for “correct English” can there possibly be? ---
**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:** [September 27, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/56 "2010-09-27T19:10:31Z")
Unlike the French, we don’t have a controlling body for the English Language. And of course, what is English, anyway? Is it what is spoken in England? If so, where in England? If we can accept different variations of English in different countries, then there is no reason we can’t accept different versions in the same country. The idea that there is some fixed, standard form of the language is simply absurd. One might argue that the purpose of communication is to, well, communicate. And as long as your manner of speech does not significantly impair that communication, then there is nothing “wrong” about it. Very few people talk they way they write, and we all pronounce many words differently, depending on where we live or who our peers are. That’s the way language works. It changes all the time. If it weren’t like that, we would still be in the pointing and grunting phase of language evolution. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/57 "2010-09-27T19:19:33Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Nope, correct. It’s widely used and universally understood. What other standard for “correct English” can there possibly be? Just because you say it’s correct does not make it correct. Have they stopped teaching English in the classroom? I recall having to take English classes every year for 12 years, then some more courses that were required in college, and then some more writing classes in law school. What do you think they were teaching if not the standard expected for English? If all I had to do was be understood, and use words, even incorrectly, that people could figure out, why did I have to learn sentence construction and spelling and all those frickin’ tenses if yours were the only standards for correct English? Because there are standards for proper English! I agree that the language evolves, and maybe in 50 years everyone will say “This is her,” _shudder_ but I also think you’d have to kill all the English teachers and burn all the English textbooks first. Use whatever ignorant grammar you want. All I’m saying is that if you use non-standard English, people who know better will think you’re stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/58 "2010-09-27T19:21:55Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > > > Except when it doesn’t. Unless you are the arbiter of the English language. Are you? > > A strange thing to say, given the position you’re taking. If **Indistinguishable** is taking the mantle of “arbiter of the English language” for making a claim about whether “irregardless” means the same as “regardless” or not, why aren’t you _also_ taking that mantle for making the _same_ kind of claim? Because I also said this – > [@](#): > > Who is to say who is right? ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/59 "2010-09-27T19:24:22Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > > [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > > > “This is her” _is_ proper English. You know why? Because out of the two constructions “this is her” and “this is she”, the former is about five hundred million billion trillion times more common than the latter in every day speech. > > That just makes it vulgar, not correct. The test is to remove the “this is”. You would not say “HER went to the store”. Subject being “She” (discriptive) as opposed to “Her” (posessive) High School English. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916/60 "2010-09-27T19:28:14Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > “…and the challenges is…” She didn’t say that. She said “the challenge is is”, thereby disqualifying her for both repetition and hesitation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-vote-for-someone-irregardless-of-there-grammer/554916.md?page=4)