The Write Way

19 April 2002

I've Got Hugh, Babe!

Greetings,

"I've got rhythm" ... "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" ... "I've got Hugh, Babe ..."

What do all these lyrics have in common? 

They all rely on that oft-maligned little word - "got."

Just in passing, have you noticed the obsession with that fellow, Hugh, in song lyrics?

"I remember Hugh"

"I honestly love Hugh"

"I want Hugh, I need Hugh, I love Hugh"

"There'll never be another Hugh"

But I digress ...

Rob Klau asked about the use of "got/have" and "gotten" and it seemed like a good topic for this week's newsletter. I have to confess at the outset, that "gotten" is not a common word in my little corner of the world - probably because here in Australia we tend to follow the UK when it comes to matters of language and spelling. In the US, however, (if we can believe what we hear on the TV shows ...) it's a different matter.

A visit to www.bartleby.com and a bit of a poke around discovered this:

“There is no such word as gotten,” an irritated reader recently wrote to The Boston Globe Magazine, objecting to the use of the word by a usage commentator, who should have known better. The notion that gotten is illegitimate has been around for over 200 years and refuses to die. The word itself is much older than the criticism against it. As past participles of get, both got and gotten go back to the Middle Ages. In American English, have got is chiefly an intensive form of have in its senses of possession and obligation and can only be used in the present tense. Gotten sees regular use as a variant past participle of get. It can occur in a variety of past and perfect tenses: Had she gotten the car when you saw her? I would not have gotten sick if I had stayed home. In Britain, gotten has mostly fallen out of use.

There are subtle distinctions in meaning between the two forms. Got often implies current possession, where gotten usually suggests the process of obtaining. I haven’t got any money suggests that you are broke. I haven’t gotten any money suggests that you have not been paid for your efforts. This sense of process or progression applies to many other uses of gotten, and in some of these cases got just doesn’t sound as natural to the American ear: The bridge has gotten weaker since the storm. We have finally gotten used to the new software. Mice have gotten into the basement.

Remember that only got can be used to express obligation, as in I have got to go to Chicago. Note the difference in the sentence when gotten is used. I have gotten to go to Chicago implies that the person has had the opportunity or been given permission to go.

"Got" and "gotten" are both past participles of the verb "get" can be traced back to a Middle English word geten; there's also an Old Norse word, geta which means to obtain, get or beget AND an Anglo-Saxon word gitan, gytan which means to take or obtain, and all these word have contributed to our current uses of the word.

"I told you ... he swore to get back at them for stealing his Star Wars collection. We're getting nowhere at the moment - we have to get away before it's too late. Quick! Here's the train - get on!"

See? There are lots and lots of usages.

"Gotten is probably 
the most distinctive of all the AmE/BrE grammatical differences, but British people who try to
use it often get it wrong. It is not simply an alternative for have got.  
Gotten is used in such contexts as: 
    They've gotten a new boat.   (= obtain)
    They've gotten interested.   (= become)
    He's gotten off the chair.   (= moved)
But it is not used in the sense of possession (= have).  AmE does not allow the following:
   *I've gotten the answer.
or *I've gotten plenty.
but uses I've got as in informal BrE.  The availability of gotten does however mean
that AmE can make suchdistinctions as the following:
    They've got to leave  (they must leave) vs
    They've gotten to leave  (they've managed to leave)."

To summarise then, in British English, the past participle 
of the verb "get" is got:

In American English, the past participle of the verb "get" is gotten:

Now you know I don't mean any of that ... I cried for weeks when both of my kids left home - the first time. 

Those of you whose children are still teenagers will be able to relate to this next piece:

DADDY'S TEN RULES OF DATING
 Rule One:
If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up.
 
 Rule Two: 
You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.
 
 Rule Three:
I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots.
 
Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes to big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact come off during the course of you date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.
  
 Rule Four:
I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "Barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.
 
 Rule Five:
It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is: "early"
 
 Rule Six:
I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long
 as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.
 
 Rule Seven:
As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process than can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?
 
 Rule Eight:
The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to introduce my daughter to wear
 shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka -- zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.
 
 Rule Nine:
Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dimwitted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless God of your  universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.
 
 Rule Ten:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper
 coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When my Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveways you should exit the car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car -- there is no need for you to come
 inside. The camouflaged face at the window is mine.

Chuckle ... that came from a friend in the US - I guess fathers are the same the world over.

Last week's request for examples of the use of "anymore" used as one word and in a positive sense brought these interesting responses:

I grew up in the Northeast US, but lived in the Midwest from 1976 to 1996, mostly in Wisconsin.  I was struck as soon as I moved there by many little differences in speech, including the placement of "anymore."

Circa 1976-77, I heard a co-worker in Wisconsin say: "Anymore you can't buy good apples." (In the Northeast we would say:  "You can't buy good apples any more.")  Another Wisconsin example: "Anymore I'm not happy [working] here."

I always figured that phrases in unusual (Pete Nolan)

Haven't heard that usage here in California. Might be either a regional affectation or another example of teenspeak, the worst of which is "my bad", meaning "I goofed" or "my mistake".

Of course, the above example might also be interpreted in the more traditional "these days" context: "He's probably doing it on purpose. Oh well, the way things are these days, about all you can do is to roll your eyes."

I'm more bothered by the tendency to combine "any more" into one word. Another annoyance, here at least, is the growing use of "everyday" as an adverb: "great bargains everyday." Wrong, wrong, wrong: "great bargains every day", or else "great everyday bargains." /end rant. 

Thanks for another good one! (Jim Noble TeamAMIGA)

I'll go one better, down here in Florida I've even heard anymores.  "She won't be bothering us anymores."  Of course that is horrible English.  I moved here from Illinois and it has been an adventure learning Southern.  My husband was born here and he has educated me on the correct way to speak Southern, lol. What is really fun is when my northern Illinois dialect gets crossed with my Florida dialect.  Talk about tongue tied!

But when I was growing up I heard anymore used that way often.  I use it all of the time.  Guess it must be a regional thing. (Kathryn Pless)

I live in St. Louis, Missouri, and I hear that usage pretty frequently, but more often at the beginning of the sentence, as in "Anymore, it's like the Blues need a miracle to get a goal on the power play."  It is a strange usage but sounds all right to my ears, so it must be pretty common. 

I finally paid for my subscription!  I'm in between jobs, sort of (starting my own pet sitting business), so money has been tight, but this is absolutely my favorite newsletter, so I decided not to put it off any longer!  You do a great job.

Thanks for putting out such a fabulous newsletter every week!  If anyone deserves to be paid for what they do, it's you.  (Anne Earney)

Gosh, (blushing profusely) ... thanks Anne ...

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Matthew Young has chid (or chided, if you prefer) me for making the quiz too easy recently, so let's try this one ... all these words are derived from Latin – match the word with its meaning:

1. elevated or pompous in speech or style of expression, using big or unusual words

2. curse

3. an authorized delay or cessation of an action

4. act or state of doing evil

5. wrongdoing by a public official

6. a flashy attractiveness, alluring by false charms

7. failure of teeth opposite each other to meet properly

8. having a smooth rich flow

9. to soften or temper (a person); pacify, appease:

10. untruthfulness; tendency to lie

Here's some good advice about what not to say to a police office ... It was sent to me by a long-time friend who's been in the police force here for many years:

2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realise my radar detector wasn't plugged in.

3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People?

5. Are You Andy or Barney?

6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.

7. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?

8. Do you know why you pulled me over? OK, just so one of us does.

9. Gee, Officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!

10. I was trying to keep up with traffic. Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That's how far ahead of me they are.

Last week's quiz:

Match the words with their synonyms below: charm, resettle, scoff, pitiful, naturalise, unsure, substitution, curse, stubborn, judge

1.abject - PITIFUL

2. ambivalent - UNSURE

3. bane - CURSE

4. charisma - CHARM

5. connoisseur - JUDGE

6. deride - SCOFF

7. dogmatic - STUBBORN

8. emigrate - RESETTLE

9. enfranchise - NATURALISE

10.euphemism - SUBSTITUTION

The Apostrophe Board has unearthed that wonderful old "alphabet" from last century. Some of you around my vintage (i.e. just in our prime) will no doubt recall snippets of it. I can remember my dad reciting this to me when I was very young and the two of us chuckling away at the wonderful cleverness of it all:

A for 'orses (or A for Gardner)

B for mutton

C for miles

D for dumb 

E for brick 

F for vescence 

and so on. You can read the rest on the Board and post your own recollections: http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/fetch.php?id=9919333&usernum=3170114826

There's also an informal contest running on the Board at the moment - if you'd like to exercise your little grey cells, drop by and see how many of the current 20 UK slang terms you know. (Next week there'll be 20 slang terms form the US.)

Now here's a great story ... be prepared to be amazed ... (It comes from Associated Press and was reported by Kurt Westervelt)

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS President Dr Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-storey building intending to commit
suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.

As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing  through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the
eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that  Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when
he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr Opus.

When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B."

When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with
the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.

Therefore the killing of Mr Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist.

Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus.

He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten storey building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The son had actually murdered himself so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

Now there's a story that will let you take centre stage with your mates this weekend ... let 'em try to top that!

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A Little Something Extra ...

Palindrome:   Evil I did dwell, lewd did I live. (Are you marvelling at how well this fits with the quiz? I thought you would be ...)

Word of the week: Arachibutyrophobia (n) Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. (Yes, I think we have had this one before ... but you have to admit, it deserves a re-run!)

Sunt pueri pueri, pueri puerilia tractant. (Children are children, and do childish things.)

Regards,

Jennifer

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