To hate the word Gotten, there is surely no such word

[NoahVale]

and I was dismayed to see that my DD wrote gotten in an email to a prospective employer.

There was just a thread about this a few weeks ago. 'Gotten' is a proper word, British people just don't like Americanisms creeping into their vernacular. That said, it is a bit informal in this context.

In your daughters case it could be "I have obtained another reference" - way classier than got, let alone gotten.

If you want to sound like a police officer, maybe.

I don't use it myself but I don't mind when other people use it. I think it has the advantage of improving the rhythm of a sentence so that you don't get too many stressed syllables one after the other. "He has gotten old" flows more nicely than "he has got old".

Actually, I checked and I don't think there are DE Stevenson novels on project Gutenberg/free kindle so can't do 'control f' and search for 'gotten'. Thwarted!

How about 'I have another reference'?

Wouldn't you say he has become old in British English? I agree though that 'gotten old' has a nice sitting on the porch swing drinking lemonade ring to it.

Actually 'become old' sounds wrong too - ' now that he is old?' 'Now that he is getting old?'

It's not really a good use in the OP's situation but I would still interview the person (if the CV matched), the over formality of some applications is terrible. I work in IT though and we are not as obsessed with formality as some other industries, so long as clear and correctly spelled I'm not fussed.

BUT - very time this comes up I bite - gotten is used all the time in Ireland and Scotland, it never fell out of use.
Also every time I ask this - what is so wrong with 'americanisms' (now there is a word needs banning) - if you are happy to watch US television and films, read their books and listen to their music then why the absurd sniffing at legitimate language use? (Which is NOT EVEN AN AMERICANISM) Nobody ever answers, unless to object to being accused of being sniffy.

(Shall I get started on Hallowe'en now?)

Who actually really cares? Well obviously several people on this thread, for starters.

I try not to care, not least because so many people on MN accuse you of being a pedant if you say you do. A lot of American words sound clunky to my ears: obligated instead of obliged, burglarised rather than burgled.

I know language evolves but it's the rapidity of the changes that is disconcerting. I still spell neighbour, labour, etc. with the u in there but I see lots of British people don't anymore.

Also every time I ask this - what is so wrong with 'americanisms' (now there is a word needs banning) - if you are happy to watch US television and films, read their books and listen to their music then why the absurd sniffing at legitimate language use? (Which is NOT EVEN AN AMERICANISM) Nobody ever answers, unless to object to being accused of being sniffy.

Well, quite. Apart from the fact that 'Americanism' is in fact a perfectly apt description of the got vs gotten divide, I agree with you.

I wouldn't object at all to use in speech or email/MN but it's really not appropriate for formal business communication, such that as a covering letter for a job application. If I was weeding ruthlessly because I had a lot of applications then I'm afraid that would probably be enough to bin it because it's a sign that the applicant can't write basic Business English prose (assuming that's a skill required for the job).

And Muphry's Law introduced a rogue "that" into my (overlong) paragraph, but I hope you get my drift.

I still spell neighbour, labour, etc. with the u in there but I see lots of British people don't anymore.

Really? I've never seen a British person spell 'neighbour' or 'labour' without the u.

Slight LOL at it being an 'Americanism'; it's the English language.

I don't like it either.

It is an Americanism. Just because we once used it, exported it and then stopped using it doesn't mean that it's not an Americanism. It's normal usage in US English and not normal usage in UK English, and if it's now making a reappearance that's because we have got it from America (via TV shows etc).

I have noticed my DC using it and I think it will become the norm in a few years. I kind of cringed to start with, but actually it's not that bad. "I have got married" or "she had got an A in maths" always kind of sounded a bit awkward anyway. Plus we have "forgotten" so it's hardly a big leap.

Or "we have gotten it" from America :)

I think it's a hideous, lazily-used word.

The sound of it almost makes me feel sick - reminds me of 'gobble'

Really? I've never seen a British person spell 'neighbour' or 'labour' without the u.

Yes, really. I see it on here quite often.

Burglarised, sadly, is more "correct" (if there is such a thing ) than burgled, which is a back-formation from burglar

I am in fact American but spend very little time with Americans (I live in the UK). I recently returned from holiday, during which we spent quite a lot of time with Americans (mutual friends of our British holiday-parters).

Every utterance is followed by "Right?". Surely this is a far more serious transgression than "gotten".

Every utterance is followed by "Right?". Surely this is a far more serious transgression than "gotten".

I know, right?

I don't think the pace of change is really all that fast - we just notice it a lot because it's change coming from a much greater geographical distance than we're used to seeing. We like to think language change is very slow and gradual, but it's often not. You can see language shifting obviously in a generation or two in bits of the fourteenth/fifteenth centuries.

That said, I wouldn't use 'gotten' in a formal letter.