[Ads-l] Some early British uses of "irregardless" (1847-1861)

Thu Jul 9 20:22:46 UTC 2020

Great work, Bonnie. LH mentioned the OED discussion of the redundant
unXless forms. Here are two citations for unregardless.

Date: October 26, 1848
Newspaper: The Bradford Observer
Newspaper Location: Bradford Observer
Article: The Ladies and Their Veils
Quote Page 7, Column 1
Database: British Newspaper Archive

[Begin excerpt]
Her imitators were as unregardless of circumstances as the very
sagacious monkey which gulped a package of medicine because he saw his
master swallow a quantity of the same material previously.
[End excerpt]

Date: January 25, 1859
Newspaper: The Morning Chronicle
Newspaper Location: London, England
Article: Express from Paris
Quote Page 5, Column 2
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
The Charivari has a hit at the late panic at the Bourse. An elderly
gentleman is seen lying on the ground in front of the edifice, with
his legs in the air, in the attitude, in fact, of a man who has had a
tremendous fall. "Allons bon!" cries a passerby, unregardless of the
poor man's mishap, "Monsieur est donc côté a la Bourse!"
[End excerpt]

Unregardless was mentioned on this list back in July 2010. I posted
citations for Jack London and John Ruskin.
http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2010-July/101492.html

Interestingly, some thoughtful person created a Wiktionary entry in
2019 for "unregardless" with Jack London and John Ruskin citations
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unregardless

Garson

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 12:10 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
>
> Thanks very much for this, Bonnie.  I've long been interested in redundant
> forms like "irregardless" (cf. Ger. "unzweifellos" lit. 'undoubtless'), and
> I wonder whether, given the evidence for 19th c. occurrences, this might be
> linked to the redundant unXless forms attested in the 16th-17th c.,
> although that's still a significant gap in attestations.  Here's the OED on
> those forms, s.v. un- 1:
>
>  *10. * Redundant uses.
>   *a. * Prefixed to adjectives ending in *-less*, redundantly or with
> emphatic force. Formations of this type are attested in Middle English (see
> unreckless adj. 1 <https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/62363630#eid1221651840>,
> unroless adj. <https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/62367441#eid1221654530>,
> unwitless adj. <https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/62392007#eid1221711580>,
> unguiltless adj. <https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/213978#eid16769262>); in
> such instances, *un-* may perhaps originally have had pejorative rather
> than negative force (cf. sense 6b
> <https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/208915#eid17123349>). They are most common
> in the 16th and 17th centuries, by which time the pejorative sense of *un-*
> had otherwise largely passed out of use.
> 1543   G. Joye *Our Sauiour Iesus Christ hath not ouercharged his Chirche*
> sig. C.iiiv   These contumate stifnecked vnshamelesse criminouse synners.
> 1598   B. Yong tr. A. Pérez *2nd Pt. Diana* in tr. J. de Montemayor *Diana*
> 235   Wofull man vncomfortlesse, and sad.
> 1634   A. Cowley *Elegy on Mr. R. Clarke* 10   His mellifluous breath Could
> not at all charme unremorselesse Death.
> 1667   J. Janeway *Heaven upon Earth* 20   As a small drop in the
> unfathomless depths of his Love.
> 1787   J. Burgoyne *Heiress* (ed. 6) v. i. 62   Your knowledge..is as
> unquestionless [*earlier eds.* questionless] as your integrity.
> 1903   *Coast* Nov. 167/2   She hears the wild, unmatchless mirth Of
> singing birds In fluttering herds.
> 2010   *Sun* (Nexis) 14 Sept. 11   The Southampton fans are getting
> unrestless.
>
> And of course there are also redundant un-verbs, which I've written about
> in a few papers:  unloose(n), unthaw, unravel, unrip, unstring...  (Not to
> mention Ameila Bedelia's "undust the furniture".)
>
> LH
>
> On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 11:05 AM Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Merriam-Webster's Twitter account (@MerriamWebster) has been bombarded with
> > complaints about the dictionary's recognition of "irregardless," with the
> > usual declaration that it's not a word, etc. (In fairness, Merriam-Webster
> > has also garnered praise for its take on the word and its usage.) The
> > Guardian's response [1], in which it consulted <checks notes> journalists
> > on "irregardless" hints that the word is "Chiefly North American" (as the
> > OED notes).
> >
> > Since we last looked at early appearances of "irregardless," we had found
> > an 1795 usage in Charleston, South Carolina and then a handful from ca.
> > 1860 onward from other parts of the United States.
> >
> > http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2007-May/069739.html
> >
> > (I'd be happy to know if someone else has revisited this on the ADS-L since
> > then.)
> >
> > Given the word's general association with American English, I was somewhat
> > surprised to see "irregardless" in several British newspapers between 1847
> > and 1860-ish. (BTW, I have since noticed that Pascal Tréguer included the
> > 1847 and 1849 citations, below, in a blog post back in March, 2018:
> > https://wordhistories.net/2018/03/23/irregardless-meaning-origin/)
> >
> > In any event, far below are some sightings of "irregardless" to fill the
> > gap in usages between 1795 and ca. 1860. I've especially focused on British
> > appearances, though I've also thrown in two from the States, just to
> > demonstrate geographical range within the country. Words within asterisks
> > indicate italics in the original texts.
> >
> > -- Bonnie
> >
> > [1]
> >
> > https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/06/is-irregardless-a-real-word-dictionary
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > He was quite willing to go forward as the corrector of those abuses which
> > really did exist, and the removal of which would be beneficial to the
> > interests of the country, but he was decidedly opposed to those ill-advised
> > and useless innovations, brought forward irregardless of the dangers and
> > injuries they might inflict on the country. (Column 1, The Morning Post
> > [London], 30 July 1847, p. 3.)
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > Or is it because the bloodhound spirit of an *office-seeker* will track any
> > victim so that he can but secure the *spoils* irregardless of any
> > incumbent, however faithful, honest, or competent he be? (Letter signed by
> > "An Old-Fashioned Whig," The Washington Union, 13 July 1849, p. 2.)
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > On his way to London to his resident at Smitham Bottom, beyond Creydon
> > [sic], he called on a friend at Croydon, and notwithstanding the torrents
> > of rain he determined to drive home, irregardless of his friend's
> > entreaties to stop for the night. (Under "Accidents," The Observer
> > [London], 18 July 1853, p. 7.)
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > His course in the last Congress is cordially endorsed not only by his party
> > but by many among the ranks of the opposition -- such as are disposed to be
> > governed by compacts and compromises mutually agreed upon for the future
> > prosperity and stability of the Government, irregardless of their bearing
> > in advancing or detracting from the chances of Presidential aspirants.
> > (Under "Hon. T.G. Hunt," The Thibodaux [Louisiana] Minerva, 16 September
> > 1854, p. 2.)
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > To use a homely phrase, the *Times* knows "which side the bread is
> > buttered;" and it distinguishes itself from any of its contemporaries by
> > playing the winning game, irregardless of principle, and spices its
> > sycophancy with sufficient censoriousness to make it palatable. (Column 3,
> > The [Ryde] Isle of Wight Observer, 9 February 1861, p. 2.)
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org