What would make me connect Flat earthers with the word irregardless seeming to 'regain' standing as a useable word?
Irregardless is a nonstandard synonym for regardless, which means “without concern as to advice, warning, or hardship,” or “heedless.” Its nonstandard status is due to the double negative construction of the prefix ir- with the suffix -less.
Here's Merriam Webster's first Frequently Asked Question:
Is irregardless a word?
Yes. It may not be a word that you like, or a word that you would use in a term paper, but irregardless certainly is a word. It has been in use for well over 200 years, employed by a large number of people across a wide geographic range and with a consistent meaning. That is why we, and well-nigh every other dictionary of modern English, define this word. Remember that a definition is not an endorsement of a word’s use.
Maybe our recoiling from a double negative word is consistent with the slang of double negative expressions:
That won't do you no good.
I ain't got no time for supper.
Nobody with any sense isn't going.
I can't find my keys nowhere.
She never goes with nobody.
John says he has not seen neither Alice or Susan all day.
I didn't steal nothing.
He ain't never told no lies.
Let's enjoy our double-negative joke:
A grammar teacher was lecturing to his class one day, "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative." "However," he pointed out, "there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative." A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."
Here are two flat earth jokes that eluded me yesterday:
If the Earth was flat, wouldn't all the water fall off? The water does fall. But then the Elephants supporting the Earth drink it to survive, then send it back using their trunks. That's where rain comes from.
If the earth was flat, Cats would have pushed everything off it by now.
