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Here are some words in Lydia Davis’ new collection of stories, “Our Strangers,” that she finds particularly interesting: “bibelot,” “egg,” “acknowledgment,” “fun,” “obnoxious,” “crepey,” “irregardless.”

The That’s Not a �������t¶��! brigade is still very much with us, I’m both amused and bemused to report; witness their perpetual dyspepsia over words such as “irregardless.”

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, challenged the slate of electors from Pennsylvania on Jan. 6, 2021, claiming that the state’s lawmakers had passed Act 77 “irregardless of what the Pennsylvania Constitution said.”

The most annoying misused word is “irregardless,” a mistaken form of “regardless.”

But the reality is that, irregardless of its rewards, sport is a phenomenally taxing endeavour, confiscating youth, anonymity and family time– a privilege, yes, but also a pain.