Question posted to my Personal Messages box by Baklis, Forum member (October 14, 2014):Good evening, Sir Joe:
I just came across this test sentence: “I spoke to him regarding (as regards, in regard to, with regard to) his future.”
I find the alternatives to “regarding” really puzzling, or should I say baffling?
My reply to Baklis:You’re not alone in being thrown off by the phrases “as regards,” “in regard to,” and “with regard to” as alternatives to “regarding” or the even more sensible “about,” but it’s not really because those phrases are baffling or puzzling in themselves. It’s just because they are too officious and bureaucratic for comfort; indeed, they are of the kind that self-respecting English speakers—with the exception perhaps of hidebound lawyers—would never catch themselves saying either verbally or in writing.
The reality though is that those three awful phrases form part of the standard communication repertoire of mostly senior people of high organizational rank or educational attainment. They guilelessly pepper their memos, reports, and letters with “with regards to…” and “as regards to…” all throughout their professional lives, spreading the bad usage unchallenged and thus predisposing even their more English-savvy subordinates to also use them. Every now and then, these subordinates might get the strong urge to correct their bosses, but they sensibly hold back that urge so as not to jeopardize their career prospects in the organization.
Let me retell a story about the “regard” idioms that I have already told several times in my English-usage column and in this Forum.
When I was a young entry-level employee in a big manufacturing company, I had an immediate superior who had the intractable habit of using “with regards to…” every time he wrote a memo. Almost always, his memos would begin this way: “
With regards to your memo dated June 9, please be informed that…” That usage sounded so stiff and grating to the ears, and I was very sure that “regarding,” “concerning,” or “about” would have done a much better, more natural-sounding job: “
Regarding your memo dated June 9, please be informed that…” “
Concerning your memo dated June 9, please be informed that…” “
About your memo dated June 9, please be informed that…”
To make sure that my misgivings were not unjustified, I checked the usage with several authoritative references. I found out that “with regards to…”, along with its variant “in regards to,” is actually nonstandard usage—a usage that
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English called a “shibboleth,” or a use of language regarded as distinctive of a particular group. In short, neither “with regards to…” nor “in regards to” is generally accepted usage. The standard usage is “with regard to…”, as in “
With regard to your memo dated June 9, please be informed that…” Even so, I knew my place in the scheme of things and made no attempt to correct my immediate superior; after all, I thought, I shouldn’t lose my job for having English grammar better than that of my boss.
Keep in mind though that aside from “regarding,” two other “regard” idioms are considered standard usage: “as regards…” and “in regard to…”, as in “
As regards your request for transfer, please furnish us with…” and “
In regard to your request for transfer, please furnish us with…” My advice, however, is to avoid using them. Even if many lawyers, bureaucrats, and corporate types use them to give an officious edge to their memos, I think that your own memos, letters, and reports will be more pleasant and engaging—and will get better results—without those phrases. In their place, just use plain “regarding,” “concerning,” or “about,” as in “
Regarding your request for transfer, please furnish us with…”, “
Concerning your request for transfer, please furnish us with…”, and “
About your request for transfer, please furnish us with…”
Now, if “with regards to…” and “in regards to...” are indeed substandard usage, why is it that many people fall into the often-intractable habit of using them? I think it’s because there are actually three similar-sounding “regards” idioms that are standard usage: “give my regards,” “extend my regards,” and “with my regards.” Be aware though that these idioms are not in the same nonstandard semantic league as “with regards to…” and “in regards to.” Rather, they are perfectly acceptable expressions of good wishes—the stuff of conventional closings for letters and for other situations that require parting words, as in “
Give my regards to your wife and children,” “
Please extend my regards to the staff,” and assuming that this posting is an open letter, also the following expression that I’ll now use to end it:
With my best regards,Joe Carillo
