Gotten

[Fitzroy]

Hmmm. Sprout has been substituted here for the name of a king who allegedly tried to turn back the tide. I wonder what other anagrams of rude words are subject to the blue pencil?

I was thinking, what is sprout all about.

 

[niall Y]

Start ......... beginning ........

Yes .. the simpler the better. Though it does depend on what one is writing and who the audience is. Otherwise, we wouldn't have have the need for so many synonyms in the English language and would all speak and write exactly the same,

 

[SammyQ]

Coming from a profession with hundreds of nouns and adjectives derived from past languages, but each with a narrow, precise meaning (and thereafter usage) I cannot stomach the mangled version of 'English', written and spoken by those too idle to give it more than 0.01 seconds thought.
I appreciate the early limitations of texting gave rise to some neologisms that evolved into a patois all of its (it's?) own, but..."draws" instead of "drawers"?? Norm, you were a troglodyte!!

Edit: My daughter tells me "English is a dynamic language" and as she has a First in its (it's?) study, I agree. I think she is more referring to the wonderful synthesis skills of the Lewis Carrolls of this world and adopted terms from other languages (e.g. "M'Kharzi", "Pukka"!) but she and I agree, the quick-and-very-sloppy excuse for communication foisted upon us by "personalities", and lately, "influencers" is just plain old laziness.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Indeed. one of the plusses of Latin binomials is the meaning doesn't change over time.

Draws for drawers is one of my pet hates, as well.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

One should normally use language to communicate not obfuscate.

Communicating to optimise the probability of recipient understanding of what is intended is more important than whether it is constructed to the highest of academically accepted standards.

But spellin mistaks still pis mi of.

 

[SammyQ]

One should normally use language to communicate not obfuscate.

Hear, hear, Terry!!

But spellin mistaks still pis mi of.

The one oft-quoted retort in my former hinterland was: "It absolutely takes my urine to boiling point". I'm sure you can translate that past the prim American censoring software we all have to endure here.

 

[MikeJhn]

My pet hate is "Off of" superfluous word.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

One should normally use language to communicate not obfuscate.

Communicating to optimise the probability of recipient understanding of what is intended is more important than whether it is constructed to the highest of academically accepted standards.

But saying what you mean and meaning what you say shouldn't be different.

 

[guineafowl21]

Languages change over time, yes, but that doesn’t mean all changes are good. “Should of” is easy enough to understand, but would be confusing for someone learning English as a foreign language, because it doesn’t make sense.

Lots of forum posts are written with barely any punctuation, forcing you to re-read a few times to get the meaning.

 

[kinverkid]

Also " Getgo " ???!!!

For quite some time I thought they were saying Geko.

 

[Thingybob]

Language is constantly changing. Get your head around this dating from (well, work it out for yourself):-
‘Thus endeth Nychodemus gospell. Enprynted at London in Fletestrete at the sygne of the sonne by Wynkyn de Worde prynter unto the moost excellent pryncesse my lady the kynges moder. In the yere of our lorde god. M. CCCCC. ix. the. xxiii. daye of Marche.’
Taken from my current reading, 'The Bookmakers' by Adam Smith
Brian

Stanley Unwin I think

 

[Terry - Somerset]

But saying what you mean and meaning what you say shouldn't be different.

That's called political expediency.

 

[kinverkid]

Can I get rather than can/may I have not only stands out to my deaf ears from across a crowded room but I remember my American friend a few years back instructed her daughter to say may I have.
I'm now losing hope in trying to get English people to call it a mortuary and not a morgue. We do not have morgues in England I think it's the same in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

 

[Chris152]

I think it can become an issue when imported language brings negative attitudes or values with it. Languages evolve, for sure, but they can also become invaded.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's unnecessary evolution that bugs me - "I can get that free" was fine, why "I can get that for free?" It adds nothing, the word is reduntant.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's Schlimmbesserung.

 

[Yorkieguy]

Unless we've all suddenly become Americans the word is got. Not gotten. It may have been old usage here, but it isn't now. Similarly the words are anyway and aeroplane, not anyways or airplane. And the plural of aircraft is aircraft, not (ugh!) aircrafts. And it's 'may I have' not 'can I get'. Come on chaps (not guys) let's try to (not and) maintain some standards.

Thank you for your attention; I feel better for that. And the opportunity to use a semicolon.

You are mistaken about 'gotten' - its an English word taken to America in the 1600s.

You’ll see ‘gotten’ in frequent use on this forum, as ‘ill gotten gains’, invariably used to refer to anyone who is wealthy, the assumption being that no-one who is wealthy acquired their wealth through hard work and enterprise.

The word "gotten" is the past participle of the verb "get", which means to gain, obtain, or acquire. The word "gotten" has been used since the 4th century in Britain and was used by Shakespeare. In Richard III he writes: With much ado at length have gotten leave, to look upon my sometimes royal master's face”.

The preferred form of the word "gotten" varies by region and language:

British English: The standard form shifted to "got" around the 1600s. In British English, "gotten" is very rare, especially in formal writing.

• American English: The standard form is still "gotten".
• Australian English: The preferred form is "got", but "gotten" is becoming more common, especially in speech

This humble word originally hails from Middle English geten, from Old Norse geta, and is related to Old English gietan. In British English, gotten was the preferred form some centuries ago. But, then around the 1600s, the standard form shifted to got – though gotten does appear in some British English dialects.

Its use in America dates from the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ who took it with them from England and it’s remained in use since. 102 passengers set sail from Plymouth on The Mayflower on Sept 16 1620 and passengers sighted land on November 9, 1620 after enduring miserable conditions for about 65 days, landing at Cape Cod. One crew member and one passenger died before they reached land. A child was born at sea and named Oceanus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)

MS Word spellchecker lists 13 varieties of English:

English English
US
Australia
Belize
Canada
Caribbean
Ireland
Jamaica
NZ
Philippines
South Africa
Trinidad
Zimbabwe

In addition, there are varieties of blended English languages around the world such as "Singlish" - (Singapore English), and Spanglish (Spanish English), where many words are "loan words" from English.

 

[selectortone]

You are mistaken about 'gotten'

No I'm not. If you read my original post I said gotten had been in old usage. In the context of my post the correct word is 'got'.

 

[MikeJhn]

You forgot Franglais.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The only use of gotten in modern UK English is in ill gotten gains.