I have been listening to the dreamiest of voices, almost sexy. She was presenting at a meeting and sounded young and had a beautiful lilt, but spoke with authority and held the attention of others. She knew her stuff and was extremely intelligent, using words that I would probably have to look up to include in my vocab. And then it happened.
She used the words ‘versing’ and ‘versed’ in place of ‘versus’ several times. I cringed. Oh my gosh did I cringe!
I hear this quite a long among our younger generation, those who are still learning how to read and write and speak. It is quite rampant and has been used incorrectly for many years, and is then picked up an repeated by others. “Team A is versing Team B,” or “We versed Such and Such today,” sounds like a pretty serious poetry showdown or songwriting contest was going on. Sadly, I have heard a news presenter use ‘versed’ in place of ‘versus’.
‘Versus’ is a Latin word meaning ‘against’. It cannot be replaced by other words like ‘versed’ or ‘versing’ and there are no derivatives of ‘versus’.
What incorrectly used word makes you cringe?
