"We got him" - grammatical?

Question

An american official announced Saddam Husseins capture with the phrase "We got him" which started a conversation about that phrase. Is it ungrammatical or not?
If what the speaker meant was "We have got him", then I suppose the phrase is a bit skew whiff.
If he meant "got" in a past tense, is this sentence grammatically ok?

Perhaps the reason I thought it sounded ungrammatical was that KFC had, or have, a slogan: "You got it", which *is* bad AFAICS, as what they mean (I presume!) is "You have got it".
alex

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]An american official announced Saddam Husseins capture with the phrase "We got him" which started a conversation about that phrase. ... slogan: "You got it", which *is* bad AFAICS, as what they mean (I presume!) is "You have got it". alex[/nq]
I presume that the American official was using "got" in the past tense, in which case it would be an entirely standard usage. However, in the sense "We have him," it would not be that remarkable in informal speech:

From the usage note for the entry "get" in the AHD4 at http://www.bartleby.com/61/84/G0108400.html
(quote)
.In colloquial use and in numerous nonstandard varieties of American English, the past tense form got has the meaning of the present. This arose probably by dropping the helping verb have from the past perfects have got, has got: We've got to go, we've got a lot of problems became We got to go, we got a lot of problems. The reanalysis of got as a present-tense form has led to the creation of a third singular gots in some varieties of English, especially African American Vernacular English.

(end quote)
My guess is that the editors believe that the difference between colloquial use and nonstandard use is that in the nonstandard dialects, the entire verb is "got": that is, "have" is not being elided.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]An american official announced Saddam Husseins capture with the phrase ... they mean (I presume!) is "You have got it". alex[/nq]
[nq:1]I presume that the American official was using "got" in the past tense, in which case it would be an ... be that remarkable in informal speech: From the usage note for the entry "get" in the AHD4 at http://www.bartleby.com/61/84/G0108400.html (snip)[/nq]
Ok, thanks for that!
alex

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]An american official announced Saddam Husseins capture with the phrase "We got him" which started a conversation about that phrase. ... slogan: "You got it", which *is* bad AFAICS, as what they mean (I presume!) is "You have got it". alex[/nq]
What I heard was 'we gahdim' and the 'we got him' transliteration is wisdom after the event.

John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]An american official announced Saddam Husseins capture with the phrase ... they mean (I presume!) is "You have got it". alex[/nq]
[nq:1]What I heard was 'we gahdim' and the 'we got him' transliteration is wisdom after the event. [/nq]
Yup, you're absolutely right there!

Usenet · Answer

What he said was, "We got 'im."
In American English, "to get" includes meanings like "to acquire, obtain," "to catch," "to hold (have)." Colloquial American English has difficulties with declining "to get"; officially and formally, the verb forms are "get/got/gotten," but "got" is often used for tenses one would not expect, especially when the meaning is "to hold (have)."

Cece

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What he said was, "We got 'im." In American English, "to get" includes meanings like "to acquire, obtain," "to catch," ... but "got" is often used for tenses one would not expect, especially when the meaning is "to hold (have)." Cece[/nq]
I can still remember being chastised by teachers (1969-70) for using "got" in this way. "We have him", Mr McMahon at Ryde Primary would have insisted. His edicts were supported by a T Square wielded with great force against people with "eccentric" syntax, spelling or usage.

PE

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I presume that the American official was using "got" in the past tense, in which case it would be an entirely standard usage. However, in the sense "We have him," it would not be that remarkable in informal speech:[/nq]
get, got, (have) gotten
GFH

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What he said was, "We got 'im." In American English, ... expect, especially when the meaning is "to hold (have)." Cece[/nq]
[nq:1]I can still remember being chastised by teachers (1969-70) for using "got" in this way. "We have him", Mr McMahon ... edicts were supported by a T Square wielded with great force against people with "eccentric" syntax, spelling or usage. PE[/nq]
True, true except our teachers weren't allowed to hit. The word "got" was considered improper. There was a children's book with much about behavior and manners and so forth that had a picture of a pretty flower, in a pot, being strangled by the word "got." I learned to use synonyms...
Cece

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I presume that the American official was using "got" in ... him," it would not be that remarkable in informal speech:[/nq]
[nq:1]get, got, (have) gotten GFH[/nq]
From the entry "got / gotten" in The American Heritage Book of English Usage at
http://www.bartleby.com/64/pages/page100.html
(quote)
As past participles of get, both got and gotten go back to the Middle Ages. In American English, have got is chiefly an intensive form of have in its senses of possession and obligation and can only be used in the present tense. Gotten sees regular use as a variant past participle of get. It can occur in a variety of past and perfect tenses: Had she gotten the car when you saw her? I would not have gotten sick if I had stayed home. In Britain, gotten has mostly fallen out of use.

There are subtle distinctions in meaning between the two forms.

(end quote)
The article goes on to discuss those subtle distinctions in meaning.

When I said that "(I)n the sense 'We have him,' it would not be that remarkable in informal speech," I meant that to elide the "have" in "We have got him," with the result that it becomes "We got him" is often seen in the informal speech of speakers of Standard American English. As The American Heritage Book of English Usage* points out, "have got" here used in the sense of possession is in the *present* tense, *not the past tense.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

"We got him" - grammatical?

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