# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/21 "2005-12-07T16:11:05Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I learned not to begin spoken sentences with “I’ve finally seen…”, Had to say this out loud before I grokked your meaning 😃 * * * If this is a hijack feel free to slap me: Has the corruption of the conjuction “versus” into the (ahem) verb “verse” become accepted to any degree. e.g. - When I get my new Yu-Gi-Oh card I’m going to _verse_ that guy again. - When I _versed_ him at Quake, I won because I seen him when he was hiding. Please tell me this is happening only at my kids’ school!! ---
**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, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/22 "2005-12-07T16:16:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Please tell me this is happening only at my kids’ school!! I ain’t seen it, but I commend your kids for so wonderfully demonstrating the ability of the human brain to generalize and apply grammatical rules regularly, and in the process create a perfectly useful new verb. I shall have to find a way to work it into my speech, to help popularize it. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/23 "2005-12-07T16:22:27Z")
To the commendation I say: Thank you, and I agree! To the idea of popularizing I say: Arrrrrrgghhhh! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/24 "2005-12-07T16:39:05Z")
“I seen” – It’s just poor English. Give it 50 years, it might become acceptable. Other examples: A few years ago I commonly heard, “He goes…” or “I go…” followed by a quote, such as “So he goes, ‘let’s get a burger!’” But that seems to have been replaced by “He’s like,…” as “He’s like, ‘let’s get a burger!’” or “I’m all like, confused.” Very annoying, and marks the speaker in my eyes. Like, enough, already. ---
**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, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/25 "2005-12-07T17:11:46Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > A few years ago I commonly heard, “He goes…” or “I go…” \*Look at that teen girl trying to speak ‘I go, I go, I go…’ Her grasp of grammar’s very weak ‘I’m all like, "Yah! :rolleyes: " all day!’ Talkin’ like ‘Hey, now!’ (‘Hey, now!’) ‘Hey, now!’ (‘Hey, now!’) ‘I go, I go, “No way!”’ ‘Speaking correctly is so lame!’ ‘I’m all like, "Yah! :rolleyes: " all day!’ ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/26 "2005-12-07T20:16:23Z")
No it isn’t, and IMHO, shouldn’t be. My EO (estranged other) uses “I seen”, “ain’t” and a host of other expressions of the kind. Gives me a serious eye twitch. Worse, he now has our 11 year old daughter using the same words and expressions. So, in trying to demonstrate to her how that sounds I told her the following story: “I’sa standin’ out by the trailer t’odder day, and gol dern iffin I ain’t seen the bigges’ ol’ torader!” She was not amused. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/27 "2005-12-07T20:36:49Z")
Wrong wrong wrong. Even worse is when our educators do it. My son’s second grade teacher wrote him something that in part said, “My husband and me have a dog.” They heard my screams two school districts away. ---
**Author:** ![DrLoveGun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@DrLoveGun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrLoveGun)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/28 "2005-12-07T20:48:57Z")
There are so many things in common usage in the English language that just frighten me. Most seem to be started by less than wonderfully educated pop stars, rappers tend to be the worst, and picked up our youth. Of course replying to this post makes me feel like an old grump. I personally want to slap anyone I hear using “hella” or “hecka” added on to any word for emphasis. ---
**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, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/29 "2005-12-07T21:04:22Z")
Y’all know I’m a big honking descriptivist. So let me tell you a story. On Monday, I was in a series of kindergarten classrooms, presenting a lesson on dog safety to five-year-olds. The teachers were great. One classroom had the class rules on the walls. They included: WE KEEP OUR HANDS TO OURSELVES. WE OUR POLITE TO EACH OTHER. WE PAY ATTENTION TO THE TEACHER. Yeah, you read that right. These were printed signs, with multiple copies, clearly designed by an adult. I despair for those kids. Daniel ---
**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, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426/30 "2005-12-07T21:39:29Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > …WE OUR POLITE TO EACH OTHER. > … (Choke) (Snort) I wouldn’t of believed it if I hadn’t seed it with my own eyes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-becoming-acceptable-usage/334426.md?page=1)