"Verbage"

From where on EARTH did this word come?
This is NOT a word, yet I have heard 4 people use it in 2 days.
It makes my skin crawl when people say it.
People use it in serious conversation. If you are speaking seriously, it seems to me that you should make an effort to speak correctly. I can understand an occasional mispronunciation in colloquial conversation with friends, but saying it during a meeting is just silly.

My best guess is that people are just too lazy to say "Verbiage". The extra syllable is just too much effort needed to pronounce a word.

Perhaps they have heard the word "Wordage" and just figured they wanted to make "Verbiage" symmetrical with it since people seem to think it has the same meaning.
(It doesn't, by the way.)

Sometimes I think I should have been an etymologist or a lexicographer.

You know what upsets me the most, though? Merriam Webster... my favorite dictionary.... has actually made an effort towards making this a word. I have not yet seen it in other dictionaries, but Merriam Webster has ADDED a second possible pronunciation which essentially makes the "i" in Verbiage irrelevant. They have made it acceptable to pronounce it with two syllables. The word is still spelled with three syllables, but the middle syllable is not pronounced on the additional pronunciation option. MW... you have lost some points in my book.

Since they have done this, it is probably only a matter of time before they just drop the "i" and convert "Verbiage" to an archaic form.

Grrr....
Now, I suppose I should do something productive.