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Thread: Is 'conversate' a proper word?

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    William's Avatar Senior Member
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    Is 'conversate' a proper word?

    I saw a poster use it yesterday in a post and I thought it sounded interesting (never heard it before,) so I used it at dinner time. My mum was horrified, and said it was an Americanism, but that even most educated Americans objected to it. But my mum can be a grammar Obersturmbannführer at times, so I asked our English teacher this morning. He said that it may appear in an American dictionary, but was not recognised as anything other than American slang by the OED, and I should avoid ever using it, as the perfectly well established 'converse' has the same meaning.

    I Googled it and got mixed results.

    This site said -

    Conversate does not yet have an entry in either the OED or Oxforddictionaries.com, but this does not mean that it isn’t a word.

    It seems to have been formed on the analogy of it being a corresponding verb for the noun conversation, but in standard English, the usual verb is ‘to converse’.
    http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2...rapher-part-4/

    But a lot of other sites said it was slang and should be avoided, as it makes you sound uneducated - cos the perfectly good word 'converse' has been around for centuries.

    So what do people here think? Use it or not?
    Oh, I wish I were a glow worm,
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    Adelaide's Avatar tPF Moderator
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    I would use "converse"...

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    It is a common word here. Try using yall (referring to multiple people) around your Mumm. It is mostly a southern contraction, some Yankees go blank when the yall bomb is dropped wile conversating!
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

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    Native floridians say conversate all the time, its slang
    LETS GO BRANDON
    F Joe Biden

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    educated people say converse

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    Quote Originally Posted by Common View Post
    Native floridians say conversate all the time, its slang
    Get out.

    Really?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Adelaide View Post
    Get out.

    Really?
    there's a reason we call it floriduh

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    Quote Originally Posted by del View Post
    there's a reason we call it floriduh
    Please don't retire yankee, we don't need any more like you, here.
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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    Quote Originally Posted by resister View Post
    It is a common word here. Try using yall (referring to multiple people) around your Mumm. It is mostly a southern contraction, some Yankees go blank when the yall bomb is dropped wile conversating!
    Lol, yes I've seen American films about the South, where people use y'all as the plural of you (we just say 'you' - whether it's one or many people,) and I think it sounds quite nice in a Southern American accent (but I guess it would be weird in a Brit accent). In fact, when we visited the USA when I was young, I remember a very nice man in shop saying to me "Y'all come back now - you hear!" even though there was only one of me. I liked the Southern Americans.

    And lol, don't take this wrong, but I think Mumm is a brand of champagne - we spell it 'mum' (without the capital M).
    Oh, I wish I were a glow worm,
    for a glow worm's never glum,
    'cause how can you be grumpy
    when the sun shines out your bum!

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    I thought it was. Then I Googl'ed it and now I'm not so sure. More research to follow.
    Power always thinks it has a great soul, and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak. And that it is doing God service when it is violating all His laws.
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