Made-up Words part 1

People are always making up words. Usually the idea is to transform a noun or an adjective into a verb, say, for example, by turning the adjective “final” into the ersatz verb “finalize.” And standards often evolve over time to accommodate these changes as the new words fall into widespread usage. But not all of these creations become acceptable, and those that do tend to take a long while—sometimes centuries—to get there. The thing you want to avoid is being ahead of the trend because instead of being perceived as a language maverick, you’re more likely to be thought of as unrefined or pretentious. The following errors are the most common when dealing with made-up words.

Irregardless

Don’t Say: We’ll have the meeting irregardless of whether Stuart can attend.
Say Instead: We’ll have the meeting regardless of whether Stuart can attend.

Here’s Why: “Irregardless” is not a word. Somewhere along the line, somebody who didn’t understand what “regardless” meant thought that the negative prefix “ir-” would make the word mean “without regard,” the way you’d turn “relevant” into “irrelevant.” But “regardless” already means “without regard”—that’s the whole reason that “-less” suffix is tacked on to the back end in the first place. Using “irregardless” is a big signal that a speaker is uninformed. Don’t do it.

Authored

Don’t Say: The Senator has authored a new recipe book devoted to cooking and eating crow.
Say Instead: The Senator has written (or published) a new recipe book devoted to cooking and eating crow.

Here’s Why: “Author” is a noun that identifies the person who did the writing—it should not be used as a verb describing the action of writing.

Critiqued

Don’t Say: Did you hear how Lisa critiqued Maureen’s performance?
Say Instead: Did you hear how Lisa criticized (or reviewed) Maureen’s performance?

Here’s Why: This is the same problem we had with “authored.” “Critique” is a noun that shouldn’t be turned into a verb. One explanation for why this happens is that the verb “criticize,” which by definition carries neither positive nor negative connotations, has come to have a negative sense to it—so people turn to “critique” as an alternative. Avoid this.


Gift

Don’t Say: They gifted the university with a million-dollar donation.
Say Instead: They presented the university with a milliondollar donation.

Here’s Why: Again, “gift” is a noun that shouldn’t be turned into a verb. There are obviously a lot of other ways this sentence could have been corrected, including They made a million-dollar donation to the university and They gave a million dollars to the university.