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#115744 - 11/12/03 02:41 PM "have got"?
gift horse member Registered: 11/03/03 Posts: 180 Loc: Austin, TX	Is using "have got" together really proper? It seems redundant to me and doesn't sound correct, yet I observe journalists using this quite often. Instead of: "They've got the best idea." Why not: "They have the best idea." ?
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#115745 - 11/12/03 02:47 PM Re: "have got"?
maahey addict Registered: 12/03/02 Posts: 555	to my mind... have got an idea - probably implies obtaining help from outside apart from one's own effort have an idea - implies pure creativity. An idea that is truly self inspired. Any takers?
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#115746 - 11/12/03 02:53 PM It's hoi polloi time again
shanks old hand Registered: 03/16/00 Posts: 1004 Loc: London, UK	Hey you! I remember from my youth being told that 'only the lower classes' (they didn't mince words in my youth) use 'have got'. This didn't, I suspect, stop Shakespeare and other luminaries using it whenever they felt it appropriate (Shakespeare's an easy one, since he happily broke anything we consider a grammatical rule). cheer the sunshine warrior
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#115747 - 11/12/03 06:16 PM Re: have too got class
Zed Pooh-Bah Registered: 08/27/02 Posts: 2154 Loc: British Columbia, Canada	I may be lower but I have got class. Seriously ,tho' we do use have to modify the tense of other verbs (I have been using it), why not this one?
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#115748 - 11/13/03 12:50 AM Re: "have got"?
Bingley Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/09/00 Posts: 3065 Loc: Jakarta	'Have got' always indicates possession, but 'have' need not do so. For example: She's got a bath (not just a shower) v. She has a bath (every morning). Bingley _________________________ Bingley
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#115749 - 11/13/03 07:39 AM Re: "have got"?
dellfarmer newbie Registered: 10/13/03 Posts: 36 Loc: Vermont (US)	I agree with Bingly here. "Have got" should imply possession or receipt. People often say, for example, "I've got a cold," but, grammatically speaking, they'd be more correct to say "I have a cold." In a slightly different context, one might say, for example, "I was with my ailing nephew, and now I've gotten a cold." Note, however that one would use "gotten" here, instead of got. Similarly, I think, one might say, "I got it in the mail," to express receipt of a letter; but one could say, "I have gotten it in the mail," to imply that the letter is now in possession of the lettercarrier. Occasionally, I think, it's fairly common usage to use have got for emphasis, as in: "You have GOT to be kidding!" The 'have got' construction has been around forever. I remember the old TV program I've Got A Secret. When we were learning our grammar, way back then, I called this to my teacher's attention and, though she was a pretty strict grammarian herself, she admitted that this had escaped her notice, gave me extra points for my vigilance. Interestingly enough, the show was sponsored by a cigarette company (yes, I'm that old), whose catch-phrase was "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should". This, of course, should be: ...as a cigarette should. But I digress. Ron. _________________________ Ron.
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#115750 - 11/13/03 07:53 AM Re: "have got"?
AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York	For me, it's more of a mouth feel thing; seems the distinction is losing ground. Also, at the risk of starting Revolutionary War III, would it be fair to say that Brits use "have got" a lot more often, and in more contexts, than us North American colonials? And what about y'all antipodean up-overs?
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#115751 - 11/13/03 10:36 AM Re: "have got"?
dxb Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/06/02 Posts: 1692 Loc: UK	As the doughty sunshine warrior (??) says, we were taught at school that ‘got’ used in this sense was redundant and not proper usage. “He told me to get it, so I got it” was just about acceptable, but rather an ugly construction and it was safest to avoid ‘got’ altogether. It is, nevertheless, frequently used. ‘Gotten’ is strictly US usage and I don’t think I have heard it used here in the UK other than in fun.
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#115752 - 11/13/03 11:16 AM Re: "have got"?
shanks old hand Registered: 03/16/00 Posts: 1004 Loc: London, UK	Agree - gotten, though of respectable provenance (I understand), is not used by UKians. And 'got' appears to have been creamed by cod snobbery. Just as you are unlikely ever to see the word 'me' in business letters - all the anxious arrivistes use 'myself'. Bless. cheer the sunshine "more doughy than doughty" warrior
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#115753 - 11/13/03 12:14 PM Re: "have got"?
maahey addict Registered: 12/03/02 Posts: 555	Is no one other than me (sorry shanks, ..myself ) getting a strong feeling of 'procure' with 'have got'?
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