Talk:no matter what

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Latest comment: 2 years ago by AG202 in topic RFD discussion: February–October 2021
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no matter what its position[edit]

What Part of speech is it in no matter what its position? --Backinstadiums (talk) 22:01, 15 February 2020 (UTC)Reply

According to us: no matter there is a preposition. Equinox 22:07, 15 February 2020 (UTC)Reply
@Equinox: then what's the PoS of what in no matter what its position? --Backinstadiums (talk) 23:57, 15 February 2020 (UTC)Reply

RFD discussion: February–October 2021[edit]

The following information passed a request for deletion (permalink).

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.


There has been a discussion at the tea room about this, with a general consensus that sense 1 ("whatever") is SOP (no matter +‎ what).

I think sense 2 ("regardless of anything") is also SOP, since you can just as easily do this with other wh-words (This late in the day I'm almost ready to stop and set up camp no matter where = "regardless of location"; We repair all pianos, no matter how old = "regardless of age").

The problem of translations was mentioned at TR - should the entry be kept as a THUB? This, that and the other (talk) 04:24, 10 February 2021 (UTC)Reply

So we would need translation hubs for each no matter + wh-word? DCDuring (talk) 15:38, 10 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
  • To me, "no matter what" in the sense "regardless of anything/everything" seems idiomatic enough for an entry. The only slightly annoying thing is, as has been mentioned, that the same could be said of all "no matter + wh-word" combinations. These are all listed as redlinks at no matter what, as if someone thought they were entry-worthy, but no one's yet actually added them. Mihia (talk) 20:47, 10 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
Keep per Mihia. Imetsia (talk) 15:59, 13 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
@Imetsia: Mihia only passed judgment on sense 2 (in my reading of it). Do you have an opinion on the SOP-ness of sense 1? This, that and the other (talk) 01:16, 21 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
Sense 1 is weakly SOP. So I'd support deleting it. Imetsia (talk) 01:46, 21 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
Delete, per Lambiam. --Robbie SWE (talk) 19:16, 20 February 2021 (UTC)Reply
  • Leaning to keep - I added "followed by a phrase" and "not followed by a phrase" to the two senses. This may help a bit for newer users of English. Can apply to other terms too, though: We'll always help a soldier in distress, no matter where. Just be done by Friday, no matter how. I'm still unsure whether it just means regardless with an explicit or implied following phrase. Cheers, Facts707 (talk) 00:01, 14 May 2021 (UTC)Reply
  • Keep. If not, get rid of the "dated" tag for no matter and add the relevant "no matter what" and "no matter who" (etc.) examples, which are still current no matter where you speak English. --Kent Dominic (talk) 14:24, 20 July 2021 (UTC)Reply

RFD-kept for definition 2 & RFD-no-consensus for definition 1. AG202 (talk) 21:34, 24 October 2021 (UTC)Reply