It was about a year ago one of my students was giving a speech and said he was “conversating” with a friend. First time I had heard someone say it.
I pointed out it was not a word, and he probably meant conversing, or having a conversation.
Then I heard “conversating” again from another student about 9 months ago.
And now, about once a month, I hear other students using this word.
Am I missing something?
Was this word used in some hit song or movie?
Is there a reason for this word to suddenly be in vogue by college students?
Is it slang or stupidity?
BTW, this word is being used by black, white, male and female students.
orientate is a perfectly valid word. unless you’re 150 years old and still bitter?
(it’s a back formation from 1850)
(i’m not the world’s greatest grammarian, but turning valid word “orientate” into “orientated” wouldn’t implicate any new rules right?)
My first experience with this word is probably from about the same era, early 90s.
Etymonline’s entry is:
It certainly predates 2000. I can find usenet postings going back to 1989 that use “conversate” and “conversating,” plus we have the Merriam-Webster listing for “conversating” above.
Conversate is not new; it’s wrong, but not new. I’ve heard it since my teens in the late '70s. Heck, my cousins used it all the time. It is a common black colloquialism.
Last year, I had a cousin from Poland (between high school and college) who wanted to come over to the US for a summer to learn English. I was amazed that the ESL department representative at the suburban community college we went to used the word “conversate” twice in her pitch to us. (And, for those wondering, she was not African-American.)
I’m very liberal with language and have no problem with the word “conversate” in context. But in a formal setting when selling an ESL program?