# Is this becoming acceptable usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426 "2005-12-06T23:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![suezeekay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@suezeekay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suezeekay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/1 "2005-12-06T23:13:23Z")
I listen to the radio a lot. More and more the people calling in are saying “I seen…” when they mean “I saw…”. Being older, I’m wondering if this is becoming an acceptable way to express the past tense of see. For some reason it gives me a little sting when I hear it. When I was growing up people who said “I seen him” were considered ignorant and low-class. Should I get over it? And by the way, “gone” seems to be a thing of the past as well. I hear “I had went…” all the time. I know language changes and evolves. And I don’t want to be an old fuddy-duddy. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/2 "2005-12-06T23:15:19Z")
I never got a memo, so I vote that it’s incorrect. I’m guessing the radio callers you’re hearing are probably not Rodes Skolarz. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/3 "2005-12-06T23:51:48Z")
GOOD LORD NO. :: faints at the very idea :: ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/4 "2005-12-07T00:21:22Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/5 "2005-12-07T00:35:26Z")
Hell no. Are you sure they weren’t saying “I’VE seen”? ---
**Author:** ![IrreverentTone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@IrreverentTone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IrreverentTone)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/6 "2005-12-07T00:59:36Z")
I work for 2 people who use I seen all day long. I’m terrified that it will slip out of my mouth one day since I hear it so often. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/7 "2005-12-07T01:27:35Z")
:eek: Move! ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/8 "2005-12-07T01:59:43Z")
> [@IrreverentTone](#): > > I work for 2 people who use I seen all day long. I’m terrified that it will slip out of my mouth one day since I hear it so often. I hope to God that these are not your superiors. If so, I vote with Shagnasty. Get the hell out of there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/9 "2005-12-07T02:09:45Z")
I frequently hear this as well. Usually when I’m on the computer and can’t be arsed to change the channel after the news and Montel Williams’s show comes on. It seems to me that many people who use ‘I seen’ and ‘I had went’ are the kind of people who find themselves on daytime talk shows. What radio show are you listening to (he asked, ending his sentence with a preposition)? Perhaps the people who use ‘I seen’ and ‘I had went’ are the people who tend to call certain kinds of radio programmes? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/10 "2005-12-07T02:15:19Z")
People calling in to radio shows are probably not a representative sample of society… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/11 "2005-12-07T02:17:35Z")
It’s not standard usage in bourgeoinics, the language of the middle class, and your professor will frown on its use. I seriously doubt that it’ll ever become standard in middle-class English. In some variants of English, of course, it’s perfectly standard. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/12 "2005-12-07T02:19:30Z")
It’s pretty common in the Southeastern Kentucky dialect, but it isn’t and most likely won’t ever be “correct English”. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/13 "2005-12-07T02:35:47Z")
No, it isn’t accepted, and it isn’t becoming commonplace. It’s just that more people are ill-spoken, and they have no idea how to use the language properly. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/14 "2005-12-07T03:04:47Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > No, it isn’t accepted, and it isn’t becoming commonplace. It’s just that more people are ill-spoken, and they have no idea how to use the language properly. Wha’choo talkin’ 'bout? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/15 "2005-12-07T03:15:19Z")
See what I mean? That’s “wha’choo talkin’ 'bout, _Willis_?” ---
**Author:** ![Kiminy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/16 "2005-12-07T03:38:50Z")
I teach at a private university. One of my collegues, who teaches a class on preparing research papers, uses “I seen” as part of her normal speech pattern. It’s actually pretty common here, to the point that when I tell students it’s not standard, grammatical English, they argue with me and tell me that their English teachers use it all the time. One of our children (the older one) is just as appalled as I am by its current use. The other child has started using it himself, presumably because he hears it frequently at school. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/17 "2005-12-07T14:50:48Z")
> [@suezeekay](#): > > I listen to the radio a lot. More and more the people calling in are saying “I seen…” when they mean “I saw…”. …And by the way, “gone” seems to be a thing of the past as well. I hear “I had went…” all the time. Um, my reaction to that sort of usage is best summarized here. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/18 "2005-12-07T15:12:27Z")
I learned not to begin spoken sentences with “I’ve finally seen…”, which is how I attempted to begin a discussion of a movie, much to my chagrin. “I finally seen?! Where’d you learn to talk?” “?? I said ‘I’ve’…” ---
**Author:** ![Mint\_Julep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@Mint\_Julep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mint_Julep)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/19 "2005-12-07T15:57:57Z")
At a local street fair type function I heard the **BEST** of all: A kid about 10 years of age speaking to his mother: “Hey Mom. Look. There go my English teacher.” I could not decide if that teacher deserved to be slapped or pitied. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/20 "2005-12-07T16:01:42Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s actually pretty common here, to the point that when I tell students it’s not standard, grammatical English, they argue with me and tell me that their English teachers use it all the time. It’s not standard English, but it _is_ grammatical. It’s just using different grammar from what you’re used to. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426.md?page=2)