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Versing, Meaning X Versus Y

Kathy from Evansville, Indiana, is bothered when she hears younger people use to verse as a verb, as in “Who are they versing?” and “We versed that team last week.” This term arose out of misunderstanding versus, a preposition in Latin that means to come toward or turn toward, but which sounds like a conjugated verb in English. The idea of players versing each other arose out of gaming culture and has become common enough that its use should be considered legitimate. This is part of a complete episode.

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