Versus v. Vs.

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hey, gang. It’s Dave Kieler from Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hi, Dave. What’s on your mind?

Well, I am deeply troubled for years now about the term or the word versus.

And you would think of it traditionally as like a fight between two individuals.

But when you see it written down in, like, say, the Supreme Court,

If you look at the term, you know, Brown versus Board of Education,

It’s just done as a V.

But if you look at it in the sporting world, like the Broncos versus the Bears, it’s VF.

And so which is the correct term to write it?

And some will even say, like, you know, a Roe V Wade.

But in the movies, it’s Kramer versus Kramer.

And then also I have heard some people now use the term, like, I would rather take the train versus the car.

But they will also use the phrase, I would rather take the train, bike the car.

And I’ve heard that over the past few years, and I’ve never heard it used that way before.

David, you said you were very concerned, greatly concerned, I think, with the exact words.

What makes you greatly concerned about this?

Well, at first, I thought someone was just using the term wrong when they used it as the phrase bike.

And I thought, oh, well, maybe, you know, they were just misspeaking or not using it right.

But then I’ve heard other people who are educated people use the term vice.

And I thought, well, maybe it’s me.

Maybe I’m the problem child.

So it’s caused me to question everything I know.

We got to call it like we see it sometimes.

And then that’s what also led to the, well, you know, when you watch TV or in the sports,

They’ll use BS.

And yet whenever I write or use it in a legal document, I see Z.

So I was curious, what’s the difference?

Oh, David, you are deeply troubled.

Oh, yes, so many problems.

How can we unpack this train wreck?

Let’s dispatch the vice part first, because people do use vice to mean in place of or replacing, if somebody fills in for somebody else.

So, for example, somebody might say, David acted as co-host of A Way with Words, Vice Martha.

And that means that you’re filling in for me.

And so you don’t hear it that often, but that’s how that’s used.

And it comes from Latin for in place of, like a vice president, for example.

Verses takes a lot more unpacking.

That is, of course, the Latin word for against.

And I’m going to try to put a positive spin on this because the fact is that there are lots of options

When it comes to rendering verses on the page.

And it just depends on where you are and what the context is.

As you noted, in legal context in the United States,

If you look at Supreme Court decisions, for example, it’s V period.

Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade.

Although Black’s Law Dictionary also says that you can abbreviate it V.S. Period if you want to.

And in less formal situations in the U.S., as you mentioned, sports, it’s often V.S. Period.

So Mets versus Giants or San Diego Wave versus the Angel City women’s soccer team.

But then you go to England and in British English, you often leave off that period in certain legal cases.

And also, if you’re talking about sports teams there, it’s Manchester United versus Leeds.

And it’s V-S without a period.

Although, again, another exception, if you look at the style guide for the Guardian newspaper,

They say V without a period for verses.

So they say Manchester United V leads with no period.

So I think the bottom line is that you don’t have to worry about being incorrect or not.

If you want to take a formal tone in your writing, use the whole word, verses.

But other than that, there are a lot of variations there.

So I hope that we’ve eased your mind at least a little bit.

Indeed.

So you could say the bad news is anarchy, but the good news is there’s no wrong answer.

Well, it’s not anarchy.

It’s just competing style guides.

The language itself doesn’t demand that it be spelled out a certain way or abbreviated a certain way or punctuated a certain way.

That’s just superficial.

Yeah, maybe not anarchy versus style guides.

Well, perfect.

Now there’s some order out of the chaos.

I appreciate your time.

That’s what we’re here for, David.

Thanks, Dave.

The next time that you’re gravely concerned about English, give us a call.

I sure will.

Thank you much.

Okay, take care, David.

Bye.

And then we know that people are wondering right now, what about people using versing, versing and game playing?

Well, we’ve answered that question, and it’s on our website.

Somebody versus somebody on Xbox or PlayStation.

Yes.

So search our website for that.

That’s waywordradio.org.