"“donation” entered the language first, in the 15th century, and only later, in the 19th century, was the verb “donate” formed by removing the suffix."
This back formation is the creator of many words. you choosing to view a word as being "correct", or not, doesnt matter
Conversate is a word, in our ever evolving and fluid language
"
Jesse Sheidlower, Editor At Large for the Oxford English Dictionary"
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/01/added-bonus-irregardless-of-what-you-think-quot-conversate-quot-is-a-word/6549/
On a side note
I like hopefully as a sentence adverb. It took a while but it has also evolved
Get with it tyler
Excellent post, and I see your point. While you are certainly correct that non-standard words can become standard, yours is an Argument from Authority, so we have to be wary of logical fallacies -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority
I love this quote from your dude, "Our goal is to include things that are in widespread use.
We don't care about things like whether they are acceptable, ungrammatical, or offensive." Yikes!!! Unexpected from a dictionary company...
I'll do the same here -
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conversate
Word story
The use of conversate has soared since 2000, mostly in speech and in written records of speech. The term is a back formation from conversation, created by dropping the suffix -ion, and adding -e, to produce a verb form.
Since it has essentially the same meaning as the more common and frequently used verb converse, the term conversate has been condemned in some circles as an unnecessary nonword. And, because the term occurs mostly among Blacks and Latinos, some discussions have become heated and impassioned, turning the word into a badge (both positive and negative) of a person’s class and education.
Conversate reminds us that discussions about modern English must take into account the different types of English spoken in our diverse culture, rather than fixating on “correct” formal usage. When all is said and done, however,
the term broadly remains nonstandard English.
Related Quotations
“The connections [the seventeen-year-old Latina] made between her personal growth and her interactions with one of her teachers were very powerful and the audience at the Ivy League school were in awe of her. All but one, the one who had only listened to her use of non-standard English as she stated that ‘in our class we “conversate” with the teacher and that has helped me in my work with adults.’“
—Xae Alicia Reyes, “Why Can’t We ‘Conversate’?: Silencing and Alienation of Latinos and African Americans in School Settings“ Black and Brown Communication: Latino and African American Conflict and Covergence in Mass Media edited by Diana I. Rios and A. N. Mohamed (2003)
“It’s not about a word at all. It's about us. It's about excellence. No one is saying you must speak and act correctly at all times, but unfortunately, lots of us don't know when the hell those times are anymore or exactly what speaking and acting correctly mean. And worse, they don't care.“
—Jam Donaldson, Conversate Is Not a Word: Getting Away from Ghetto (2010)
I'll have to take solace in the fact that the word is non-standard, i.e. you can use it with your friends (if they're idiots), but probably better if you don't in a job interview, or when applying for an ivy league school. In any case, I will continue to smack those that use it