Grammar PSA: It could be verse. BUT IT'S NOT.

[athelind]

This is one that's been popping up with increasing and irritating regularity, so I'd just like to state for the record:

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"Versus"
is not a plural,
and its singular is not
"Verse."

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This is more of a verbal error than a written one, thus far, largely because in writing, everyone tends to use "vs." -- but it's one I keep hearing more and more often, from people who should know better. "Pirates vs. Ninja" gets pronounced as "Pirates verse Ninja".

Let's see what Your Obedient Serpent's Grammar Guide says about this:

Yes, both "Verse" and "Versus" can be abbreviated as "vs.", but they are not interchangeable!

Stop it at once. Where did you learn this?

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Comments

[athelind.livejournal.com]

... if I kept seeing it in writing, maybe, but verbally?

[araquan.livejournal.com]

Were they usually talking fast enough that they just carelessly dropped the syllable?

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Generally speaking, they enunciate it fairly clearly.