# "Conversating"? Since When Is This A Word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932 "2010-12-21T07:11:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/21 "2010-12-23T00:46:26Z")
Once again, an occasion to review my favorite apparently made up word, brought to my attention by several of my co-workers, each of whom have advanced degrees in education. **Consequence** Used as a verb. As in, when reviewing updates to student handbooks " should we change how we consequence students for this particular offense?" Some educationers they are, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/22 "2010-12-23T01:00:32Z")
I call on all edumacators to refudiate this word or concept. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/23 "2010-12-23T01:04:07Z")
I’m copastetic with that. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/24 "2010-12-23T01:44:35Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > I’m copastetic with that. R.I.P, ‘copacetic’. I haven’t heard it pronounced that way in the hood EVER. I still say it that way though, out of respect for the unique history of the word. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/25 "2010-12-23T01:48:30Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > R.I.P, ‘copacetic’. I haven’t heard it pronounced that way in the hood EVER. I still say it that way though, out of respect for the unique history of the word. Huh. Until I just looked it up right now, I had no idea “copacetic” was non-standard. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/26 "2010-12-23T03:43:45Z")
Yes, yes, it’s been put into the dictionary, whatever! “We give in because this is so widely used even if incorrect” does NOT make a word correct (I’m looking at YOU \>\> “I’m nauseous”). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/27 "2010-12-23T03:56:58Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, yes, it’s been put into the dictionary, whatever! “We give in because this is so widely used even if incorrect” does NOT make a word correct (I’m looking at YOU \>\> “I’m nauseous”). See also PIN number, VIN number, and ATM machine. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/28 "2010-12-23T04:04:43Z")
I’m not saying it’s correct, but Fonzy used to say to the nerds: “Conversate with me!” Fortunately, I don’t have a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/29 "2010-12-23T04:05:01Z")
The word I hear is complected: as in, “He’s fair complected” or, “She’s dark complected.” It’s complexioned. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/30 "2010-12-23T04:06:00Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, yes, it’s been put into the dictionary, whatever! “We give in because this is so widely used even if incorrect” does NOT make a word correct (I’m looking at YOU \>\> “I’m nauseous”). Best User Name / Post Combo O The Day It gets the Converse rubber stamp of approval ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/31 "2010-12-23T05:55:08Z")
While conversate makes me blink in an oral presentation and I would certainly have issues with it in a written assignment, I have no problems with it in casual speech and in fact am having difficulty understanding why one would. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/32 "2010-12-23T06:46:26Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > While conversate makes me blink in an oral presentation and I would certainly have issues with it in a written assignment, I have no problems with it in casual speech and in fact am having difficulty understanding why one would. I for one can’t hear it in a way that doesn’t sound like an old person trying to sound “cool”. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/33 "2010-12-23T07:06:17Z")
And yet the OP is hearing it from college students who appear to be using it completely straightfaced. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/34 "2010-12-23T08:21:58Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > And yet the OP is **hearing it from college students** who appear to be using it completely straightfaced. And I shake my head in sadness. Bolding mine. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/35 "2010-12-23T14:29:08Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, yes, it’s been put into the dictionary, whatever! “We give in because this is so widely used even if incorrect” does NOT make a word correct (I’m looking at YOU \>\> “I’m nauseous”). Oh, CanvasShoes, thank GOD! You got here just in time. Lifetime students of language and respected linguists were languishing under the illusion that there was a case to be made for descriptivism; but now that you have settled the matter, they can relax. Whew. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/36 "2010-12-23T14:56:21Z")
I’ve observated folks utilizating this word for some time. Fortunately I always reservate judgment. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/37 "2010-12-23T14:59:36Z")
But that just begs the question then, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/38 "2010-12-23T15:04:21Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > But that just begs the question then, doesn’t it? A lil’ embarrassed to admit this, but; Although I understand that the ‘wrong’ way people use this phrase, I have never been able to really grasp the ‘right’ way it is supposed to be used. I have wiki’ed it, but I don’t fully grasp the original usage. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/39 "2010-12-23T15:10:13Z")
For me also, it’s one of those things like obscenity – I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it! and it drives me crazy when posters here use it when they probably mean “That raises another issue,” or “I think you’ve missed the point”. This [link](http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/beggingquestion.htm) might help. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/40 "2010-12-23T16:52:14Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I have heard this typically used by Africo-Americans since the early 1990s. YMMV. Conversate for a few/'cause in a few, we gonna do/what we came to do, ain’t that right, boo? And that was '95, so I’m sure the “word” comes from before that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932.md?page=3)