>
>> 1. "Irregardless" is not a word.
>
>What a horrible thing this English language is! Why is it that,
>although 'ir' is a legitimate prefix, 'regard' a meaningful root, and
>'less' is a commonly-used suffix, 'irregardless' is not a word?
>'Regardless' is a word, and 'ir' is a properly assimilated form of
>'in', so there really is no problem with 'irregardless'
>grammatically... it boggles my mind...
>
>(By the way, 'irregardless' IS a word in the American English, albeit
>merely a comical redundancy for its affirming counterpart.)
>
Heh, English is great fun. How about 6 pronunciations for the
"ough" ending? There was a Dr Seuss book called something like
"The Tough Coughs as he Ploughs Through the Dough." (not to mention
Hiccough) :-)
And many, many words have the same spelling but different
pronunciations that are based purely on context:
1 The bandage was wound around the wound.
2 The farm was used to produce produce.
3 The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4 We must polish the Polish furniture.
5 He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6 The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7 Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was
time to present the present.
8 A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9 When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10 I did not object to the object.
11 The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12 There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13 They were too close to the door to close it.
14 The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15 A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16 To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17 The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18 After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19 Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20 I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21 How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
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