My first AIBU! The word 'gotten'

[MollyHuaCha]

Why is this creeping over the pond into our language? AIBU to be bothered about this?

Something that annoys me is how people use super now, as in "super excited".

The 'So' to begin a sentence seems to have evolved from 'Well' which always seemed appropriate.

As in interviews 'Well Maureen, we are doing some good work in the community'

Gah, my mother was a pedant about Gaol my teachers must have thought I was a twat over things like that.

Hate hate hate gotten.
Fully aware that it's Old English, but so are thee or thy and I don't use them either.....

Oh and 'excited for' instead of 'excited about'. That seems to be a relatively recent thing. I don't like it.

The 'can I get' one is odd. I find it slightly grating, and yet I don't see anything logically wrong with it. I've heard people complain about it in the 'can I get a cup of coffee' context on the grounds that it sounds as if they want to go and get the coffee themselves. And yet the verb doesn't bu any means always have that meaning. When you say "I got a watch for my birthday", it doesn't imply that you went to get it yourself.

They also often have trouble with British swear words.

Curse words in American English.

I'm Irish and we all use "can I get" and "sorry for your loss"!

Yep, I see no problem with Can I get either. DD just came from school yesterday laughing that her teacher (a young fella, extremely nice and great with young kids) always say ye instead of you and me instead of my. I didn't want to say it's because he's a culchie, just said it's his way but she should be using the proper version anyway (enough of her using done instead of did).

Grammar Police Station

Tea and cookies biscuits?

What's a culchie?

Myne, it's someone coming from a rural area.

"no worries"

I feel like I'm back in the 1980's watching Joe Mangle on Ramsey Street

Interesting to read this is a thing.

One one mine has recently started with "gotten" - doing my head in. Though youngest always said this but stopped a few years ago.

So I assumed that child had pick it up from the youngest - not from the zeitgeist - I'm not picking it up from TV or internet videos so I'm at a loss to know where it's coming from.

Maybe its the Irishness in me that makes me not mind 'can I get?'. That and 'sorry for your loss' have been a constant in my life, it is all I have ever known, they're not 'new' phrases to me.

If you let yourself get wound up about stuff like this aren't you giving in to unconscious bias?

I'm skeptical of the idea you could find this really irritating and yet not judge the person saying it.

The great strength of English is how flexible it is and how it is possible to make yourself understood even when you don't really understand all the grammar etc. I was never really taught any of that stuff - very poor education and I have found it difficult to self teach, though I do try. I'm always splitting the wotsit in sentences because I feel it gives emphasis, and it's how I grew up speaking.

I refuse to be ashamed.

Sometimes I say things like, "I'm not 100% about that". Perhaps that's a consequence of spending some time in South Africa, where the English is different again.

MilkTwoSugars - Mock her! I wouldn't dare. She would most certainly come to haunt me.

I used to be firmly against "gotten", but then I lived with Americans for a while, and now "got" seems oddly abrupt.

The gotten thing - it's part of English culture to feel a bit superior to Americans and assume they are all less intelligent than us.

also the use of 'hi guys' in youtube videos, it grates on me

I've used guys for mixed groups for the best part of two decades.

The latest, though, on YouTube/Twitch etc, is 'lads' and 'boys'. It sounds nothing but exclusionary. I stop watching/following men who do it.

Sorry Klaphat but 'lad's can be both in Ireland too.

The more I read these threads (see also Hallowe'en) the more I think Irish people are doing these things just to annoy English mumsnetters. Look how many have gotten wound up over a perfectly correct usage of a word over the years

i have just come to this thread straight from reading:

"We are currently casting for a third season of ????? and we want to reach out to people that have interesting family stories and are looking to discover family. I'm trying to reach out to people that may be able to help us locate people with those stories."

Another case of Americans using three words where one will do nicely, thankyou. What's wrong with contact?

In Ireland, lads means everyone. Male/female, teens to grannies. It's actually very unexclusionary.

Anyone else really hate the word 'breezy' in a non-meteorological context? I've come to loathe its use on here. 'Breezy' is how they tell you to act on here when some stupid cow with no manners and less consideration tramples all over you. I assume it means a sort of sugary politeness with lots of fake laughs and no hanging around to chat, which I could never carry off and cannot stand dealing with in others.

(DH sometimes uses the word 'breezy' as a euphemism for farting. ).

No problem with language evolving naturally, but British English is being ruined at an alarming rate due to the enormous amount of US TV and internet available. I imagine the English-speaking world will all speak American English, accent and all, in another 20-30 years.

Such a shame.

Nothing quite like a bit of linguistic xenophobia to start the day.

Oh do come off it Seneca

Do an experiment for me. Go about your day today and use as many British-isms as you can, in your normal accent and see if anyone reacts. Be all "Gosh my fringe is in my eyes" etc I dare you.

It really isn't necessarily xenophobic, Seneca. I speak French and German and I'm just as irritated by anglicisms creeping into those languages as I am by Americanisms creeping into British English, but that certainly isn't because I'm prejudiced against the English, as I am English. Yes it's illogical because languages are always changing, but it's not unusual to find changes uncomfortable until you get used to them.