The “Break it Down” Blog

These didn’t used to be pet-peeve words… in fact I used to use both. Thanks to the love of my mom and her brain, she finally broke me of retarding myself

• “Refer back to”
  • Example: “I was referring back to the time I ate all the paint.”
  • Problem: Refer already implies a reference to something that occurred before.
• Correction: “Refer to”
  • Example: “I was referring to the time I ate all the paint.”

• “Irregardless”
  • Example: “Irregardless, I told him I didn’t have brain damage.”
  • Problem: “Regardless” already means “without regard”, “irregardless” literally means “without without regard”.
• Correction: “Regardless”
  • Example: “Regardless, I told him I didn’t have brain damage.”