Gotten?

[RTFT]

I see this a lot on here but never hear it spoken....is this a new word or a regional thing?

It has always been used in Ireland. As has 'can I get', and Santa. And celebrating Halloween.

They're not Americanisms.

Spring break, baby showers and Thanksgiving are Americanisms.

Gotten is not an Americanism. They just happen to use it there, like the rest of the English-speaking world beyond England.

I use gotten. It is certainly nothing new or odd.

Another Scot not prone to Americanisms that fills out forms, says gotten and takes the dc to see Santa and has always said can I get?
These threads happen almost weekly now and it seems consistently forgotten than a lot of American culture and language came from Scotland and Ireland and has never left these places.

In my mind got and have different meanings

Gotten = become eg I've gotten fat by eating too many cakes.

Got = own eg I've got a pet ferret

Exactly treacle. And even if they were, so what? American posters must get so shit of everything "bad" being designated as an Americanism, whether it is or not, as the ultimate criticism.

Baby showers are indeed an American abomination though!

It is old English that has grown in popularity with many other words that are now seen as American. It does make me wince a little but tbh I find language is changing so quickly these days and US tv, films and the internet are why. Smart for clever is another one. A perfectly acceptable word but definitely becoming more popular than it used to. I teach and see change in language more and more. Pronunciation is changing too. Children saying lever as if it rhymes with whether. Also diaper and pacifier are creeping in. Diaper also being a very old word really. Many people now say bathroom when they mean toilet, movie is just everywhere and then there is the placing of the world already at the end of a sentence.

People:

1. "Gotten" is not Old English. IT IS NOT OLD ENGLISH, and you do not know what "Old English" means.

1. You would not be able to read Old English. It has a different grammatical structure and includes letters that aren't even used in contemporary English. Old English would be a foreign language to you.

Chaucer did not write in Old English. Shakespeare did not write in Old English. Many of you are confusing Old English with Middle English. Educate yourselves, please.

1. Modern English begins around Shakespeare's time. Many of you are confusing Modern English with "contemporary" English.

1. Please note that Shakespeare used "gotten."

1. #thepoorestoftherichteabiscuits, you wrote that "I'd much prefer hearing that than the use of super for really" and "That super, super annoys me." Guess what? This is not quite how we (Americans) use "super." Nobody says that something "super, super annoys" any person; "super" doesn't work this way. It is super annoying to me when Brits attempt Britsplain casual American slang or vernacular can't seem to properly analyze the nuances of usage. Poor analytical skills scupper your argument.

1. #BuffaloCauliflower, no, "gotten" is not "out of date English." However, I'm more concerned by your other ill-informed assertion, with its (unintentional, I know) tones of racism. You asserted that "Ax/ahks (sic) instead of ask is another example of this." In truth, your second example references a structure of contemporary African American vernacular. I know that you are ill-informed and don't mean it, but this is quite offensive to me as an African American. This is a great example of why it is important to research one's argument before loading onto the bandwagon of anti-American (or anti-whatever) scorn and launching barbs with blind abandon. If you ever visit America, I advise that you avoid telling anyone that "ax/ahks instead of ask" is an example of "out of date English": people will view this as disgustingly racist.

1. "Gotten" still exists in regions of the UK.

I love this thread (not just because the majority agree with me for once). Nice clean language debate is good for any day.
I love the way language evolves, particularly when 2 languages are smashed together by a bilingual population. Suddenly I can’t think of a single example.
Also I love well Shakespeare used it as a defence, because I wonder what he’d think of it, he has a million crude jokes and I’d like to hear kids using him as a defence for being crude and finally because I can’t spell for toffee and I’m often saying Shakespeare made up his own spellings you know.

I have always said gotten. Never equated I with American English. It’s perfectly correct. Remember being taught to use it in school (a very academic private school in the South East).

You OK @Elise1985 ?

Blimey! I meant old English as in English from a long time ago. Thought this was a light hearted thread.

I don't know anybody in real life who uses 'gotten'.
Only heard it on movies/TV.
Not fussed on it myself.

@BitOutOfPractice

That's likely a symptom of the fact that we use the verb "Get" for myriad different things, rather than because they have different meanings. Got and Gotten have the same meaning, however it's an easy mistake to make given we use it for:

Get a present
Get lost
Get out
Get fit
Get laid
Get a grip
Get on with something
Get on with somebody
Get a haircut
... etc etc

We use it to mean any number of other verbs from "become" to "receive" which is why it's often a difficult one for language learners to get a handle on.

Ill gotten gains?

Every time this comes up I am reminded how many English people think their version is definitive and anything they don't see often is 'american' and somehow lesser

A bit unfair. I did say I thought it was regional UK (maybe I should have said British Isles or East Atlantic Isles just off the coast of mainland Europe) but didn't know where exactly.

Another Scot here who uses gotten. It's not solely an Americanism and I find it odd that some people, mostly those outwith Scotland, don't know much anent the evolution of language.