Got meaning have

Question

"I Got You Babe" is a song written by Sonny Bono. I wonder if "got" is just an informal synonym for "have". Is it standard English? To me, no educated person would use it in formal writing. Song lyrics are forgiven standardization much like poetry. The lyric needs to match the rhythm, though. Poetic license. What do you think? (I am justifying the usage of "got" there. )

Well, There are many things that we can say or write in a song or a poem or a dramatic speech which would not be the 'standard way of saying it'. I've always been trying to keep my students away from non-standard English.

Rover_KE · Accepted Answer

You are right. 'I got you babe' is non-standard English.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous"I Got You Babe" is a song written by Sonny Bono. I wonder if "got" is just an informal synonym for "have". Is it standard English?

It's nearly standard. I got is a very common substitute for I've got, an idiom for I have which has been around for nearly 200 years. babe, however, is slang. It has several uses, but in this context it's a term of endearment, and thus is a replacement for words like dear or darling, which would have been used instead many decades before this song was written.

Anonymousno educated person would use it in formal writing

But then, of course, the idea itself, even if written more formally (I have you, dear), would never come up in, say, a treatise on chemistry.

AnonymousI am justifying the usage of "got" there.

You don't have to justify it to me, but I think I see your point. You want your students to understand it passively while recommending they not use it in their own active vocabulary.

AnonymousI've always ~~been trying~~ tried to keep my students away from non-standard English.

Well, that's your decision. I'm afraid the result may be that your students won't be able to negotiate the twists and turns of the very casual speech and writing that they would naturally encounter among native speakers of English their own age.

I don't see any harm in exposing more advanced students to non-standard language, starting in small doses.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, Rover.

CJ, To me, "got" it's short for 'have got', which means 'have'. North Americans normally say "I've got + noun phrase" to simply mean "I have + noun phrase." The thing is, in speaking quickly in informal English, the -'ve gets "eaten" or "dropped," so to speak, so that it sounds as if the speaker is simply saying "I got." This happens so often that now many -- if not most -- native speakers think it's really 'I got" instead of 'I've got'. This doesn't happen, however, with 3rd person singular. That's why I call it "non-standard English".

Got meaning have

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions