Versus

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Dr. Goodword
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Versus

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:29 pm

• versus •


Pronunciation: vêr-sês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Preposition

Meaning: 1. Against, as opposed to. 2. In contrast to, in comparison with, alternatively.

Notes: Versus began its life in legalese to denote an action of one party against another. In this sense it is often abbreviated as vs. or simply v., as in 'Brown v./vs. Board of Education'.

In Play: This word is used today a much in sports as law: "No single sporting event has the emotional impact of the England versus Germany soccer games." Today's Good Word has crept even beyond these two interests: "The question of UK versus US English is alive and lively outside these two countries in the English-speaking world."

Word History: Versus is the Latin word for "turned against". It is the past participle of vertere "to turn, wind", which Latin inherited from Proto-Indo-European wer-/wor- "to turn, bend." The same word became wyrd "fate" in Old English, which went on to become weird today. English turned this word into the suffix -ward as in homeward and westward, too. English also subjected the word to metathesis to get wreath, writhe, and wrath. In Russian it became vertet' "to turn, wind" and vernyt' "to return". Other Slavic languages have similar verbs. With an -m suffix this PIE word became worm in English, vermis "worm" in Latin, which Italian turned into verme "worm". Little worms are called vermicelli in Italian. (Now it's time for accolades to William Hupy for suggesting today's Good Word, and for the more than 120 others he has brought to my attention since 2006.)
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David Myer
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Re: Versus

Postby David Myer » Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:48 am

A rather irritating modernism has crept in on this one. Certainly in Australia, possibly elsewhere as well, young people are using it as a verb in the form 'verse'. "We versed them last week". I guess the usage is simply a misunderstanding of the word and its origins. What galls me is that we have available an array of suitable words without adding this misconstruction (assuming that's what it is). I am particularly disappointed when it is used this way in sporting contests. In the old days, (and nostalgia ain't what it used to be), we 'played' them last week. But sport is no longer the game that it should be. As we in Australia say "It's sheep-stations nowadays". We don't 'play' against them anymore, we fight as though we have wagered sheep-stations on the outcome of the contest.

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Re: Versus

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:12 am

Australia seems to be fast catching up with Scotland as an origin of lexical oddities in English.
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George Kovac
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Re: Versus

Postby George Kovac » Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:24 am

The pronunciation of "versus" as "verse" has for several years been popular in America as well, primarily among millennials and younger groups. This pronunciation is widespread and is not linked to geographic, socioeconomic, educational or ethnic factors, just age. The pronunciation grates on my judgmental ears as well.

Other linguistic shifts among that same cohort:

A similar but subtler linguistic shift is to pronounce "to" as "tuh." While this is mainly heard among millennials and younger groups, you can hear it more widely: For example, the highly articulate Barack Obama sometimes drifts into this pronunciation when he is speaking extemporaneously, and I heard "tuh" used consistently in a formal presentation by a university professor.

An irritating, IMHO (in my highly-judgmental opinion), shift is this one, an error of case and manners. I was trained always to say "My friends and I passed the grammar examination." Today it is acceptable (even among newscasters) to say: "Me and my friends passed the grammar examination."

But language belongs to the living, and these shifts in pronunciation and usage are part of the process. Language in practice allows for variations. Consider the tolerant grammarian's final words uttered on his deathbed: "'I am about to die', or 'I am going to die'; either is correct."
"Every battle of ideas is fought on the terrain of language." Zia Haider Rahman, New York Times 4/8/2016

David Myer
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Re: Versus

Postby David Myer » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:30 am

Marvellous, George. I do hope the newscasters lied and actually failed the exam?

I deeply admire your reasoned tolerance. But I am delighted to see that the irritation remains nonetheless.

I am sure you are right in your analysis that verse is widespread and linked to age only, and lies across all the other factors. Certainly true for Australia.


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