Have or got
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don't really 'give' a sh!t one way or the other. Sorry. As long as a person communicates their intentions and needs to me and others. I got what they were after in their communication. I work with a ton of people for whom English is their second or fourth language. And forcing them to have to keep track of these kind of stupid rules is what stops communication sometimes. my .02
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
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don't really 'give' a sh!t one way or the other. Sorry. As long as a person communicates their intentions and needs to me and others. I got what they were after in their communication. I work with a ton of people for whom English is their second or fourth language. And forcing them to have to keep track of these kind of stupid rules is what stops communication sometimes. my .02
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
rnbergren wrote:
As long as a person communicates their intentions and needs to me and others
Exactly. However whilst changing the meaning of words (or adding a new meaning) is one thing *, changing the rules of grammar, and changing the meaning of phrases, is something else. An example above, trønderen cites "I could care less". This is an Americanism that has not yet made its way (thank goodness) into the UK. Currently, if I hear someone say "I could care less" I would assume that they care. More than not at all, anyway. If the phrase does cross the Atlantic, we'll have a period where it will be impossible to understand that phrase, unless we know the speaker well. That does NOT lead to clear communication. Similarly, the term "could of" instead of "could have" has become very common, yet it is meaningless. The speaker is not trying to equate the meaning of the words "of" and "have", they're just (literally) making a noise that sounds similar to what they've heard others saying. Since all they're doing is aping a noise, how can that be "communication" when they've clearly not understood the meaning of the words they're using? (What really confuses me is why people I've known for decades, and know how to speak English, are now very distinctly saying "I could of done this" and even writing it. Have their brains completely turned to mush?) * Of course changing the meaning of words can be equally confusing, especially when "bad" now means "good" for example. If my teenage grand-daughter comes in from a meal out and says "wow, that was really bad. I mean, really sick." then I will continue to suggest she writes a letter of complaint and asks for her money back. If what is communicated is simply wrong, then no, I will NOT get what they were after in their communication.
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I do not think that Have you got a programming question would be correct. I think that simply Have a programming question? would be correct.
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Very many people are using got improperly. For example, Got a programming question is improper; Have a programming question is proper.
reading a great discussion like this i get goosebumps, and, a rhythmic tingle in the tangle of neurons in Broca's area in the inferior frontal gyrus ... as the song says, "Who could ask for anything more ?" Kate Smith: I Got Rhythm (with lyrics) - YouTube[^] i propose that the appropriateness of semantic choices to express "possession or ownership" is culture and context bound ... for those who can be aware of the choices, and make conscious or intuitive decisions on which to use ... that is one thing ... for those who simply use what they are accustomed to, independent of context ... that is a very different thing. in broad terms, i would say "get and got" are less formal than "have and had." But, "get" is more a verb. excuse me while i go get lunch: today i think i'll have ... tuna salad.
«The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled» Plutarch
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I strongly agree that English needs extensive improvement with thinking and planning. Something new that happens because someone feels it could be an improvement could make things worse. Use of words for multiple purposes are more likely to add to the confusion. Use of got in this different manner adds to the confusion. An example of a change that does not add value is the use of the apostrophe symbol instead of the quotation symbol for quotes, as in: 'wrong' instead of "wrong" 'proper' instead of "proper" That change adds no value; it is more likely to cause confusion.
Two things: firstly language isn't planned, it just happens; you can document how it's used at a point in time but that's just a snapshot (and a geographically-specific one). Secondly (and I can't recall whether I was taught this or heard it) I believe that single quotes are used when quoting phrases etc. and double quotes are used when quoting something that was actually said/written, so we can discuss whether it's correct in general to say 'I got a question' or we can discuss whether Jane was correct to say "I got a question".
Regards Nelviticus
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I've got a version of that sung by Gladys Knight that is awesome.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
It isn't written in Rust. Fix that and it will work.
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Very many people are using got improperly. For example, Got a programming question is improper; Have a programming question is proper.
Most people today are destroying the English language (at least in the States). There are no such words as "wanna" and "gonna" but these two atrocities appear in everything from news articles to web postings. The proper lexicon is "want to" and "going to" but who cares anymore? As long as the point gets across. People are no longer forced to use English correctly because it may hurt their feelings or something. Its always about someone's feelings. What about simply growing up?
Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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Very many people are using got improperly. For example, Got a programming question is improper; Have a programming question is proper.
"Got a programming question is improper; Have a programming question is proper."
In formal English neither is correct, you're missing the subject. To be complete sentences they should be something like "I've got a programming question" or "I have a programming question," but that's a matter of interpretation because those sentence fragments are missing important info, which is the point. In informal English though, it's common to drop implied bits when they are understood in context. So in informal speech, sentence fragments like that are fine, both of them. It's a form of informal abbreviation. Dropping the "have" in "I've got" to just "got" is a similar form of abbreviation. Have/got are both fine if used correctly, but most go with "have" for reasons of style. "Have" is more common in formal English but "got" is not incorrect.
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I strongly agree that English needs extensive improvement with thinking and planning. Something new that happens because someone feels it could be an improvement could make things worse. Use of words for multiple purposes are more likely to add to the confusion. Use of got in this different manner adds to the confusion. An example of a change that does not add value is the use of the apostrophe symbol instead of the quotation symbol for quotes, as in: 'wrong' instead of "wrong" 'proper' instead of "proper" That change adds no value; it is more likely to cause confusion.
In American English at least, double quotes are always used for quotes except in the case of nested quotes, which use single quotes. Using single quotes outside of a larger quote is just plain bad punctuation. But no one even cares about grammar and spelling anymore, let alone the occult art of punctuation.
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In American English at least, double quotes are always used for quotes except in the case of nested quotes, which use single quotes. Using single quotes outside of a larger quote is just plain bad punctuation. But no one even cares about grammar and spelling anymore, let alone the occult art of punctuation.
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Very many people are using got improperly. For example, Got a programming question is improper; Have a programming question is proper.