Have you heard anyone saying "I versed you" [Meaning competed with/against]

[Nart]

It drives me crazy that my kids (6 and 8) will use "versus" as a verb as in "I versed him in soccer" or "John is on the Red Sox team and we are going to verse him in baseball tonight". I hear it all the time when I pick up my kids from school. If it makes a difference over 85% of the parents have at least college degrees (and around half of those parents have graduate degrees), so I can't picture the kids picking it up from their parents. I correct my kids over and over again but they keep using it. Anyone else hear kids using that annoying word?

[Sugarfoot]

No, but it bugs me when my kids say, "I can win you."  :huh:  Umm, you could win the game, but I'm not the prize. 

 

They picked it up from our baby sitter, who teaches elementary school.  :lol:

[Pegs]

I think it's because the kids hear the word as "verses", rather than "versus", and so mistakenly but understandably figure that people can "verse" one another.

[WagsWife]

My older kids did this when they were younger and were first playing on sports teams ("we are versing the green team this week.")  It drove me crazy...I had to drill it out of them.  I don't know where they picked it up either.  

[milovany]

Oh gosh, it was one of my favorite things ever when our youngest used "versing" that way. I'd never heard it misused liked that and I laughed for hours. He came running over to us at church saying, "Moses is versing the dog!" and I had to pry out of him what he meant. I cracked up once I understood where he got it. I thought it was pretty clever; it does make sense that a child would "see" versus in that way (as a verb). I haven't heard it used like that since, although my sister, who teaches K/1 says it's very common, as you've said.

[Nart]

My older kids did this when they were younger and were first playing on sports teams ("we are versing the green team this week.") It drove me crazy...I had to drill it out of them. I don't know where they picked it up either.

How old were they when they stopped? You have given me hope. My husband knows how much it bugs me and will use it in front of me when talking to our boys and then wink or grin at me.

[Momling]

Maybe think of it as a good example of language acquisition -- how cool is it that our brains can regularize a word. It'll no doubt be commonplace in another generation... and you'll remember your kids on the forefront of language change.

[WagsWife]

How old were they when they stopped? You have given me hope. My husband knows how much it bugs me and will use it in front of me when talking to our boys and then wink or grin at me.

 

 

I am not totally sure...probably a couple of sports seasons.  Whenever they would say it, I would just say "you mean, you are playing against the green team?"  They would roll their eyes, and eventually they stopped.  

 

On the other hand, I have NEVER been able to get my oldest DD (19) to stop replacing "either" with "rather."  I have harped and harped and harped...and she still does it.  ("We can rather eat now or later.)  I don't know why she does it, especially because she is actually kind of a Grammar Nazi.  I want to yank someone's hair out, every time I hear it.  

[Tanaqui]

I'm certain that Pegs is quite correct - they hear this fairly unfamiliar word that's only used in a limited context, and reanalyze it as a regular verb verse + 3rd person-singular-present tense.

 

It's the exact same process that got us count-noun "pea" from mass-noun "pease". Pretty cool, right?

[Alessandra]

Versed is used as a verb in schools here. My dc didn't turn versus into versed. They just picked up what the versed directly. Btw, spell check just fixed whatever jumble of letters I used and made it into versed, lol.

[Alessandra]

Dp

[Deee]

It is all too common in Sydney, but is not allowed in this house!

[Deee]

DP

[marbel]

No, but it bugs me when my kids say, "I can win you."  :huh:  Umm, you could win the game, but I'm not the prize. 

 

They picked it up from our baby sitter, who teaches elementary school.  :lol:

 

I remember saying "I can win you" in elementary school.   Hadn't thought about it for years but now I can hear myself saying it. :-)

 

Never heard "versed" used that way though.

[poppy]

Conversate is a getting-tired slang term. Or as the dictionary says "nonstandard except in some dialects".

Versed, I have never heard.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Never heard that before.

 

 

[lovinmyboys]

My 7yr old says it. I haven't heard anyone else say it. I think it is kinda cute. If he is still saying it next year, I'll try to encourage him to stop.

[umsami]

My kids do this.  It annoys me, but what annoys me more is they think I'm wrong when I try to correct them.  Apparently, it's a commonly used phrase among their friends. 

[Laura Corin]

I've not heard versed.  But I like the analogy with 'pease'. Another one is 'cherry', originally from the singular French 'c(h)erise' which sounded like a plural, so 'cherry' was formed as the singular.

[MeAndTheBoys]

My boys say it all the time.  Ugh.  I told them it's not really a word--but I guess if enough people say it, it becomes a slang term.

 

"Kyle versed me in soccer; he won."

 

STOP THE INSANITY!!

 

b

[Ellie]

No. And I'd be on that like white on rice if my dc tried to use it. Or Mr. Ellie (he wouldn't, but still...)

[FloridaLisa]

It's just a kidism in my house. I think several of my boys used it when they played rec sports in the young years. I would correct it and eventually, they've outgrown it! Wish, wish, wish I had written on my calendar or somewhere all of the ways they phrased things. I only have one that still does anything near that and I miss it!

 

 

[Jennay]

It's like the book Frindle!

 

(Cant figure out how to underline a book on my ipad...)

[Jennay]

It's just a kidism in my house. I think several of my boys used it when they played rec sports in the young years. I would correct it and eventually, they've outgrown it! Wish, wish, wish I had written on my calendar or somewhere all of the ways they phrased things. I only have one that still does anything near that and I miss it!

Me too!

My favorite was when my DD used the word "yesternight." It made today sense..if there is a yesterday, why not a yesternight?

[*Lulu*]

My two oldest love the show Psych where one of the main characters is constantly misusing words and phrases.

 

It makes me feel like maybe our launguage lessons have taken hold when they know enough to laugh because he is wrong. The same for when we listen to Hank the Cowdog.

[pehp]

No but I am getting a kick out of this.  I am reading it like "I SCHOOLED you in Candyland today, son!" 

 

I've never heard  'versed.'  Is it a colloquialism, like schooled is in that context?  

 

I'd just keep nicely correcting and using the right words in context and they'll catch on to your approach.  But they may still used 'versed' with their friends. ;)  I grew up in an area full of poverty and uneducated people.  My parents were sticklers about proper English and reading books, and fortunately I did not retain any of my childhood 'country speak!!'  

[Laura Corin]

Me too!

My favorite was when my DD used the word "yesternight." It made today sense..if there is a yesterday, why not a yesternight?

 

Yesternight is - or was - a real word.  Here's Shakespeare's usage.

[MiMi 4under3]

Yes.

 

When I asked my kids why, it turns out it's from reading "vs." as verse.

[Guest]

Never heard it said....but did anyone else immediately think Firefly?  :leaving:

[trulycrabby]

Never heard it said....but did anyone else immediately think Firefly? :leaving:

Why yes, yes I did... :zombie: :o

[mamahammer]

My kids say it constantly. It doesn't bother me. 😊

[Halcyon]

YES!! My older son learned this in roller hockey and has since dropped saying it since he quit roller hockey. It would drive me crazy!!!!!! All the kids said it, so that's how he picked it up.

[Lady Florida.]

I haven't heard versed but have heard versus used as a verb. For example, someone might describe a video game as one you can play by yourself or versus. Drives me batty.

[4ofus]

I heard this from very small kids. It went away. Have hope :).

[Guest]

Never heard that before.

Me neither. Apparently I live in a hole?

[Guest]

Why yes, yes I did... :zombie: :o

.... :o

[tex-bex]

My kids will ask, "Who are we versing?"

 

I totally get why they say it, but it is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

[eloquacious]

Yes!! I've been trying to dissuade my children, my niece and nephews, and my friend's sons from using that exact phraseology on the grounds that it's not a proper word... but then I hear other children using it and I get the feeling that, in time, it will be a word. Usage evolves over time. It's frustrating, but then when I propose "play or compete against," the children reply that their version is simpler and gets the point across. I can't really fault them for their logic.

[Arctic Bunny]

My boys say it all the time.... The 10yo hasn't said it in a while, though. Hope!

[swellmomma]

This is common phrasing with my own children and most that I work with, whether they use it as versed in the past tense, or versing such as "tonight my team is versing george's team" it is part of their regular way of talking.

[OneStepAtATime]

I have never heard it, so I guess it hasn't made it to our area yet.  But yes, the Firefly theme was playing in my head when I read the thread...  :)

[JeneralMom]

When my kids started public school in Australia they began using it. I hear k8ds say it here all the time, so I decided not to fight a losing battle.

[Incognito]

My kids use it like that and I correct them but they don't stop.  Also, however, in my mind you can "verse" someone if you beat them roundly in some game or sport.

 

(Head hanging shamefully) I am quite sure my children use "verse" improperly because of Angry Birds.  They asked me what the "vs." meant, I said versus, and the rest was history.  I have not been able to dissuade them from using it as a verb.

 

 

[CaffeineDiary]

This is a consequence of Mario Kart having "vs. mode"

 

I think I approve of this as an evolving usage and think we should all adopt it. No joke.

[AHASRADA]

I thankfully haven't heard it, but now that I know this is a thing, if a child asked me what "vs." means, I would tell them, "Versus, it means against."

 

Maybe if these kids understood that versus means against., they would realize that, "We're againsting the other team," or "We againsted them last night" don't make any sense. Either that, or they would start using both words incorrectly!