“Indifferent” Is the Real Word
No word evokes as much lexical contempt as “no matter what,” I felt a shiver just typing it. But in contrast to fictional terms he often gets centered in s, including “believe” and “Sherbert,” whatever is a technically real word. This is what the Merriam-Webster dictionary says.
Corey Stamper, Lexicographer for Merriam-Webster and author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries , explains in this video that the word was first used in dialectical American speech in the early 20th century and is still quite common in colloquial speech today. … It means “independently” and is a mixture of two words: “independently” and “independently.”
In the dialect in which it occurs, “regardless” is the expressive “regardless.” So if you are a native speaker of a particular dialect that uses the word, Stamper tells Business Insider that you might have a conversation like this:
I could say, “Daddy, give me a car. I am a really good driver. ” And he will say: “Anyway, I’m uncomfortable.” I’ll say: “Come on. I will tell you in detail and refuel it. ” He will say: “All the same, no.” The meaning of “indifferent” is to end the conversation.
Although in standard English … no. It’s awkward and it’s easy to assume that the “ir” prefix would make it ” not independent”, which … huh? Stamper notes that “just because a word is a word doesn’t necessarily mean you should use it,” and encourages people to use “regardless” instead. Repetition for emphasis: use “independently” instead.
If reading this post gives you an angry tick, rest assured that this word probably won’t come back. According to a Grammarly poll , 74 percent of voters say “no matter” is not a good word, even though we all know how much weight the population votes.