# "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:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/41 "2010-12-23T16:57:22Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > Conversate for a few/'cause in a few, we gonna do/what we came to do, ain’t that right, boo? True. ---
**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, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/42 "2010-12-23T17:00:58Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > 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. You assume as true the point you are trying to prove. My physics class is boring because it’s not interesting. My foot pains me because it hurts. Stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/43 "2010-12-23T17:37:00Z")
I have heard this word when I was in my 20s (in the 1980s). I wonder if it was in a popular song or something of the time and caught on? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/44 "2010-12-23T17:57:26Z")
I’ve been hearing conversate, and similarly orientate, for a number of years now. Yes, I think they’re annoying, not so much because they’re incorrect, but because they’re unnecessary. I can understand where the error came from, but I think some people use them because of some idea that bigger words come across as more intelligent, so saying “conversate” instead of “converse” or even “talk to” makes people feel like they’re presenting themselves better. It seems like a phenomenon not too dissimilar from people saying stuff like “utilize” when they mean “use”. So, really, it just bothers me because it seems pretentious, results in extra syllables, and can potentially result in confusing the point that one is trying to make. It’s fine to use longer words when it adds something that the shorter one doesn’t, but a word like “conversating” adds absolutely nothing over “conversing”… well, nothing you’d want to add at least. ---
**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, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/45 "2010-12-23T18:08:37Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > …So, really, it just bothers me because it seems pretentious… Seriously. I think you have it all wrong, here. ETA: thanks, des and Inner Stickler. I still don’t feel confident enough to use the phrase, but I’m getting it better now. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/46 "2010-12-23T18:09:52Z")
Google ngrams can add some interesting information to these discussions [Conversating alone](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=conversating&year_start=1920&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3) [Conversating vs. Conversing](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=conversating%2Cconversing&year_start=1920&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932/47 "2010-12-24T00:29:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Last year, \*\*I had a cousin from Poland (between high school and college) \*\* Poland is located between High School and College? I are confusticated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversating-since-when-is-this-a-word/564932.md?page=2)