English Language & Usage Asked on February 24, 2021
I have heard a television news figure say what sounds like verse when it seems he means to say versus. Is this an alternate pronunciation, or is it a different word? If it’s a different word, what is the spelling?
I suspect it’s a mistake, but it is MSNBC news talk show host, Chris Hayes, who generally seems to speak in standard English in a way that indicates he is highly educated, who I’ve repeatedly heard use this word.
For instance, he might say what sounds like, “Consider policy A ‘verse’ policy B.”
There is a very similar question here on ELU asking about using verse as a verb to mean challenge, which I believe is related but not the same as my question.
No, verse is a completely different word than versus. Versus is used when comparing A to B (as in "A versus B"), while verse is like a verse in the Bible or Koran, somewhat similar in meaning to stanza.
See also:
Answered by user60295 on February 24, 2021
I've frequently heard people, including highly educated people, say "verse" instead of "versus" as a sort of informal, shortened version of "versus." In particular in my experience it is an alternate pronunciation of the abbreviation "vs." So if I had to write out that pronunciation, I would use the abbreviation, not the word "verse," as "verse" is an entirely different word with an entirely different meaning.
Answered by N. Post on February 24, 2021
I actually have witnessed over the last 30 years the evolution of the use of the word versus used in conversation to have become pronounced verse, as if the speaker believes that because it’s often written as vs they pronounce it verse not being aware of the word versus and that vs was used forever as an abbreviation, like say in a boxing poster. Even educated intelligent people like Chris Hayes just come from a younger generation who learned it wrong through the now prominent mispronunciation. The evolution of a colloquialism becoming a legitimate part of the English language
Answered by Lincoln Schleifer on February 24, 2021
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