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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Gotten

109 replies

Catlover77 · 12/03/2021 19:40

AIBU to want to scream ‘it is not a word’ every time I read it on here? I have just read four threads with it in. All four people cannot possibly be American!

OP posts:
Italiangreyhound · 13/03/2021 02:43

I love gotten and use it all the time. It sounds so much better and is arguably more correct.

Goodvibesfamily · 13/03/2021 03:16

I hate this too!

Toilenstripes · 13/03/2021 04:02

I was sat
I was stood
Down the pub

I absolutely hate all of those but every English person I know uses these grammatically incorrect phrases. It’s not just Americans. 🙄

NeverHadANickname · 13/03/2021 04:32

Love that 😂

Roasteros · 13/03/2021 05:01

On the subject of words I hate, the current front runner is "normalcy". I really can't abide it!

WFHWF · 13/03/2021 05:31

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

MindyStClaire · 13/03/2021 05:44

Why do we never gave posts from Irish/Northern Irish/Scottish/Welsh/Australian/American posters giving out about correct language usage in other parts of the country/world?

It's always English posters giving out about gotten or haitch or Santa or whatever. In this case even acknowledging that it's correct usage elsewhere. Maybe have a think about why you think only the way you speak is correct, and what that says about you.

HeronLanyon · 13/03/2021 06:06

mindy slightly hate to do this (English here) but what does ‘giving out’ mean ? ‘Holding out’ or ‘speaking out’? Or ‘complaining’ I’m thinking I’m thinking this is American usage ? You’ve gotten me thinking here.

shouldistop · 13/03/2021 06:12

I thought giving out was Irish?

HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur · 13/03/2021 06:20

Surely 'gotten' is the past participle of 'get' and so perfectly acceptable with 'to have'? For example, 'She had gotten tired of waiting for the train so she took the bus.' I could be wrong, but that's how I'd use it.

M4J4 · 13/03/2021 06:24

YABU, this doesn’t bother me, and I studied English lit at university.

I think people post these threads out of a sense of supepriority and it’s class based.. There’s another thread right now extolling the virtues of the word ‘outwith’, which is also not widely used in England.

funinthesun19 · 13/03/2021 06:34

I like it Smile.

PrelovedWithValue · 13/03/2021 06:38

But that's the only correct way of saying it. It's either I forgot or I'd forgotten. I'd forgot is incorrect

I would never say 'I'd got'. It would be 'I got' or 'I'd gotten'. Same rule works there too.

Alonelonelyloner · 13/03/2021 06:47

Goodness, so many people here really don't understand language do they?

crayolacom · 13/03/2021 07:06

@campion

I noticed Harry saying gotten the other night. He's very impressionable.
Harry doesn't sound royal at all. He's just another bloke
MindyStClaire · 13/03/2021 07:45

@HeronLanyon

mindy slightly hate to do this (English here) but what does ‘giving out’ mean ? ‘Holding out’ or ‘speaking out’? Or ‘complaining’ I’m thinking I’m thinking this is American usage ? You’ve gotten me thinking here.
Ha, sorry, always forget that one. Yes, "giving out" is Irish, it means telling off. I had no idea it wasn't universal until I joined here!
Notjustanymum · 13/03/2021 07:55

The beauty of the English language is that regardless of the word variation, and even if articles are missed or the wrong tense is used, we can extrapolate what is meant! That’s why it’s so widely spoken, and let’s face it, with the amount of exposure to US culture on TV, we are very likely to use expressions that are in common use there.

sanityisamyth · 13/03/2021 08:00

I seem to stop reading the post as soon as I read it and either move onto the next post, or give up with the thread entirely. It annoys me so much!

Emeraldshamrock · 13/03/2021 08:18

I thought giving out was Irish?
Me too. I hear it all the time. "Teacher was giving out to Peter today"
Or "Mam gave out about that".

MindyStClaire · 13/03/2021 08:32

@sanityisamyth

I seem to stop reading the post as soon as I read it and either move onto the next post, or give up with the thread entirely. It annoys me so much!
But why? You're essentially saying you stop reading once an OP reveals themselves to be Irish, Scottish or American. Why only engage with people from your region?
SenecaTrewe · 13/03/2021 08:33

I don't mind "gotten" but I can't stand "got to", as in "I got to ride a pony today". Sounds so spoilt and grabby.

PrelovedWithValue · 13/03/2021 08:38

@SenecaTrewe

I don't mind "gotten" but I can't stand "got to", as in "I got to ride a pony today". Sounds so spoilt and grabby.
Interesting!

I think 'I got to ride a pony today' sounds like something unexpected and as a result, notable, but not 'grabby'. Whereas 'I rode a pony today' is much more likely to be (although not by any means always) someone showing off.

But with both options, it very much depends on how it was said.

HeronLanyon · 13/03/2021 08:38

Wonder how ‘give out’ is linked to ‘give over’. Hmm . . . In fact ‘give over’ is odd - you think it would mean ‘give it here’.

GottenGottenGotten · 13/03/2021 08:45

I would love to know where the people that do and don't like the word gotten are from.

I'm Scottish and I am pro gotten.

And as for people that hate it so much that they stop reading, that's pathetic. What would you think of people that stopped reading your posts just because you used a word that they don't commonly used, but is perfectly legitimate and you used correctly?

Emeraldshamrock · 13/03/2021 08:46

Wonder how ‘give out’ is linked to ‘give over’. One is a telling off the other is a warning ⚠️
Very normal in Ireland.