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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

”was being been p.p.”　is a usage in low use, some dialect / slung or typo or something?

Hi, I'm an English learner from Japan and I have a question.
I found some usages "was being been p.p." on the web and I wonder what it is. Is it a right usage and used anywhere as some dialect or slung or something?
Most of Japanese who answer me said this is typo or wrong usage and there's nowhere used with this usage in English. Is it true?
I found some lines with it in the google book quotation or news text.
Are all of these typo or something?
I need your help.
  

Top answer

" is grammatically impossible and is always wrong. It is not slang or dialect.

— GPY

  • " is grammatically impossible and is always wrong.
  • It is not slang or dialect.
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6 Answers
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The combination "was being been p.p." is grammatically impossible and is always wrong. It is not slang or dialect.
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Thank you for your reply.

I found some usage on google books or in news articles such as New York Times.

ex)He said a United Nations plane that could deliver medical workers and supplies to Mogadishu was being been held in Nairobi because of the risks posed by the civil war. -U.S. Increases Aid to Somalia After U.N.Banks By JANE PERLEZ Published: December 15, 1991
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AnonymousAll are typos
Yes, they are typos. Remove "been" to make them grammatical.

CJ
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I understand this usage is not grammatical and formally it's wrong usage.
But typos might sometimes go slang.
David Guetta song title "Where them girls at" is grammatically wrong but they've kept it uncorrected and let people know of the phrase.

Is there any possibility authors or reporters would choose the phrase intentionally or from habit without typographical error?

I
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AnonymousIs there any possibility authors or reporters would choose the phrase intentionally or from habit without typographical error?
If they are native English speakers, absolutely not. It is a completely impossible combination of words. It is impossible at any level of English.
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AnonymousBut typos might sometimes go slang.
That's not the way slang is created. It's not based on typos. Often, it's just that someone comes up with a clever turn of phrase that a lot of people like.
AnonymousIs there any possibility authors or reporters would choose the phrase intentionally or from habit without typographical err
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