Grammar Police

Ok people, there are many little rules and nuances in the English language that are confusing. I do not claim to be a professional writer and I am certainly not a qualified English teacher, however there is something that has been bugging me lately.

I was in a meeting with my esteemed colleague MJS listening to some very high mucky-muck talk about the future of the IT organization and the culture and blah blah blah. He had a casual, likable style about him and I thought to myself that he was rather smart. Smart, that is, until he dropped this bomb:

"Irregardless of the next few...."

WHAT THE HOLY HELL!?

Irregardless is NOT a word! If it were it would mean the exact opposite of how people use it. Regardless means "no matter what" and "ir" means "not" so "irregardless" actually means "not no matter what" or "not at all. " Do you follow me? No, try this:

You say: "I will love you irregardless of your weight!"
You mean: "I will love you fat, thin, chunky, tiny, huge, whatever!"
You're actually saying: "I will only love you at the right weight."

If you only learn one thing from the TP gal, it should be this. STOP using "irregardless!"

For the record, none of you whom I know in real life use this word. There was a frequent offender, but we don't run in the same circles anymore. (The cause of the separation is 100% unrelated to the offending word under discussion.)

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I feel a sense of relief.