题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
河北省张家口市2021届高三上学期英语期末考试试卷
When "irregardless" was included in Merriam-Webster dictionary, it caused wide disagreements. "Irregardless" has been in widespread and near-constant use since 1795, when a newspaper called The Charleston City Gazelle of Charleston Ga. , first used it. We do not make the English language, we merely record it," the dictionary's staff wrote in "Words of the Week".
The word's definition, when we read it, would seem to be without regard. However, Merriam-Webster defines "irregardless" as "nonstandard" but meaning the same as "regardless". According to Merriam-Webster, "Many people find 'irregardless' to be a ridiculous word, as the ir-prefix usually indicates negative meaning; however, in this case it appears to make the meaning of ' regardless' stronger. "
"It's not a real word. I don't care what the dictionary says," responds author Michelle Ray, who teaches English in Silver Spring, Md. And she says she's still planning to mark "irregardless" as incorrect on her students' work.
An American newspaper the Baltimore Sun published the word in editor John McIntyre's commentary on Saturday: Irregardless' is too a word; you just don't understand dictionaries. People get upset about the dictionary because they think it is some sort of official document. But actually, it's not. It's just lexicographers identifying words that people use and trying to find out how they are spelled, how they are pronounced, what meanings they have and where they came from. "
"The dictionary's recognition doesn't enroll a word as correct in the English language," McIntyre says. "It just says this is a word that a lot of people use in English. And here's what we know about it. " So it's a word, but its use is still discouraged in formal writing.
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