Grammar girl here, this week we're going to talk about the word verses, when and how

you should abbreviate it and when you should capitalize it.

Olympics season is nearly upon us.

Athletes in more than 150 countries are preparing for some of the most significant moments

of their careers.

As representatives of their home nations, these athletes will find their competitions

framed in epic international proportions, the United States verses Australia, China

verses South Africa, Canada verses the United Kingdom.

And that's fine, but sometimes writing out the word verses is to cumbersome.

So how can we abbreviate it and when should we capitalize it?

First though, let's talk about the origin and general use of verses.

We use verses to indicate that two entities are opposed to each other.

For example, in a courtroom or in sports.

The origin of verses is simple, it comes from Latin and it means against.

It's a preposition, just like the words above and over.

Versus probably became common in English through its use in the law, whereas you learn

in a minute it's used to separate opposing legal parties.

English law which forms the basis for most American law, Irish law, and the law of commonwealth

countries inherited many integral legal concepts from the Normans, who spoke a romance language

related to French.

English didn't descend directly from Latin, but Norman did.

This romance influence coupled with pervasive religious use of Latin and the complex multicultural

...