Heard on The Judges: "conversate"

[Bill Palmer]

It's no doubt destined to become part of the lexicon, cf. "surveil"

Bill Palmer

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 1:38 PM
Subject: Heard on The Judges: "conversate"


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Heard on The Judges: "conversate"
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>
> Over the past dekkid, this word has become so widely used by people of
> every race, creed, color, national origin, and sexual orientation
> that, at the very least, it ought to be, like _aks_, considered
> standard non-standard English. Once upon a time, I considered this to
> be a joking form, it being such an obvious back-formation from
> "conversation." But, after hearing people use this in place of "say"
> or even "discuss":
>
> "No, your honor. I didn't have no chance to _conversate_ with the
> defendant regarding the situation before taking him to court, because
> he was hiding out somewhere and he also wouldn't answer his cell, your
> honor."
>
> in a situation in which they obviously consider themselves to be
> speaking a higher class of English than they would be using, if they
> were just hanging with the homies.
>
> -Wilson
> â?"â?"â?"
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Mark Twain
>
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