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I've received several e-mails from well-meaning souls who wanted to correct
the signature line that followed my last post to the list. The signature
line read:
"Irregardless, as technical writers, we should all be orientated toward more
perfect and economical utilization of the English language."
The sentence was meant as a joke, to lighten up on the pedantic tone I took
in "Re: Important vs. Importantly: Which is correct?" In addition to two
outright errors, there are at least four questionable structures or usages.
While those four are more-or-less permissible under the strict rules of
English, they should, IMHO, raise the hackles of any professional writer.
PUZZLER CONTEST! Can you spot all the mistakes? Send your answers to my
personal e-mail, and I'll read the responses and acknowledge on the list the
first several respondents that have the right answers. I'll also post what I
consider to be the correct answers, as well as any corrections that other
writers saw and I missed. Good Luck!
