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Ganges

Suggest improvements for the highlighted problem area: Irregardless of the dangers, Arjun and Malati sailed out of the Hooghly estuary and headed upriver just before high tide. Arjun was disinterested in doing any more sailing. Malati was nauseous. Hopefully they traveled towards home. Unfortunately, their roomate had done them a diservice by insisting that the tidal surges in the estuary were overated. Near Calcutta a six-foot tidal wave left their boat broken and stranded on the ghats. Answer: - Regardless - Our opening paragraph begins with a common error: Irregardless of the dangers, Arjun and Malati sailed out of the Hooghly estuary and headed upriver just before high tide. The problem here is that irregardless is not a word. Unfortunately many people use it, probably because is sounds like irrespective, which is usually interchangeable with regardless -- the word they really mean to use. Consider the double negative we form when we say irregardless: regard + less = without regard ir + regard + less = not without regard Avoid the temptation to tack on the unneeded prefix: Regardless of the dangers, Arjun and Malati sailed out of the Hooghly estuary and headed upriver just before high tide. To help remember how to use the word regardless and to avoid the use of irregardless, try using a clever mnemonic, such as: Eerie guardless castles, are bargains regardless of hassles.

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