Irregardless, Grammar is our Friend

[luckylexie]

Jun 25, 2020 13:17:23 GMT -4 chonies said:

Work email question:

which is the most accurate and least annoying salutation for a mass email?

a) Hello, Faculty of Doom--
b) Hello, Faculty of Doom,
c) Hello Faculty of Doom,
d) build your own salutation

Thank you for your time and contributions!

I know c) is incorrect, but that's what most people use, and I get that. I can't bring myself to do it (as a professional editor), so I use:

Hello, Faculty of Doom.

Maybe it's annoying, but no one has said anything to me yet!

[zwinter]

I'd even dispense with the Hello and just go:

Faculty of Doom,

With the Hello I'd choose option c).

[chonies]

Thanks, everyone. To be completely honest, I'm kind of crushed that no one supported my actual practice (for YEARS) was a, and it's probably no secret I'm heavy-handed with an em dash. B is the choice of a colleague who came from an English background, and C looks kind of lispy-Cindy Brady to me, but I acknowledge it's more streamlined. Also, I got a bunch of edits back on an email I meant to send out across campus that added a lot of silly-ass language. This might sound dumb, but I'm opposed to "helping helper! I'm here to help!" type of rhetoric, and that's what someone added. Argh.

I might just go with Faculty of Doom. It pleases the Skeletor side of my work persona.

[lpatrice]

Here's a nice little NPR story about the debate over irregardless. Regardless of What You Think, Irregardless is a Word. LOL. I still hate the word and refuse to use it.

[ratscabies]

Jul 27, 2020 0:54:59 GMT -4 lpatrice said:

Here's a nice little NPR story about the debate over irregardless. Regardless of What You Think, Irregardless is a Word. LOL. I still hate the word and refuse to use it.

Harrumph!

That NPR story can irregardless all the way off!

[chonies]

On the flip side, the word “cromulent” was a correct answer on an episode of a game show I saw—not because it’s a great word by itself but because its legitimately in a dictionary.

[ratscabies]

Jul 27, 2020 21:38:22 GMT -4 chonies said:

On the flip side, the word “cromulent” was a correct answer on an episode of a game show I saw—not because it’s a great word by itself but because its legitimately in a dictionary.

I don’t like all the snarky words getting legitimized like this. I want to be able to use “irregardless” or “cromulent” to embiggen my point when mocking the inferior, dang it!

[mojogirl]

This made me lol...

[Carolinian]

Grammarians! Is it "A eureka moment" or "An eureka moment"? I went with the first option but don't the rules of grammar say that "an" precedes a vowel?

[mojogirl]

I am not a grammarian, but I would use "a eureka moment."

See also: "I'm going on a European vacation."