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Q&A Is there any stylistic reason to avoid the word "got"?

It depends on the context. It can be casual, but it's the correct past tense of "to get." I got sick. I got a book for my birthday. I got there in time. Perfectly correct, if slightly ca...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:41Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25896
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:53:32Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25896
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:53:32Z (about 5 years ago)
It depends on the context. It can be casual, but it's the correct past tense of "to get."

> I got sick.  
> I got a book for my birthday.  
> I got there in time.

Perfectly correct, if slightly casual. You could rewrite to "I became sick, I received a book, I arrived in time," but you'd start to come off as needlessly formal.

In response to a falling baseball:

> I got it!

You _could_ say "I have it!" or "I'll get it!" but on the field nobody cares.

> I got no idea.

Slang. Comprehensible, but technically wrong; it should be "I have no idea."

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-01-06T15:28:40Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 3