Haves and gots.

[GWAlex]

Is it me, or does a person who uses, incorrectly, "got" in place of "have" sound uneducated? Young people around my area and school have the tendency to say "I got a better idea", or "We got a new...", which is really irritating me.

Has anyone suffered from this problem?

[WouldaShoulda]

Not nearly so much as then/than or less/fewer.

[smujd]

Doesn't bother me nearly as much as I/me.

[McKay]

Originally Posted by GWAlex

Is it me, or does a person who uses, incorrectly, "got" in place of "have" sound uneducated? Young people around my area and school have the tendency to say "I got a better idea", or "We got a new...", which is really irritating me.

Has anyone suffered from this problem?

I think what you're hearing is "I've got..." with the "'ve" dropped. I agree that it's wrong to do that. Whether "I've got" is a poor substitute for "I have" is another question on which I don't have a strong opinion.

In your second example, "We got a new...", I'm not sure that there's a problem. "We got a new..." isn't grammatically the same thing as "We have a new...", but it'is effectively the same in virtually all cases.

[Relayer]

The constant misuse of the reflexive pronoun "myself" is what really grinds my gears.

It seems most commonly misused by the more "educated" among us.

[theCardiffGiant]

I can't stand hearing (or reading, as I did yesterday on a graphic on Fox NFL Sunday) "we'd of" instead of "we'd have."

"We'd have" is, of course, a contracted form of "we would have," while "we'd of" is entirely meaningless.

[coynedj]

I'm not sure that using "got" when "have" is the better word shows a lack of education, since it is so unfortunately common. But using "have" shows a superior education, or at least superior attention to proper grammar.

On the misuse of "myself", I read a possibly apocryphal story about how this usage became common. It seems that a sports agent (I can't recall the name) realized that his charges were confused on when to use "I" and when to use "me", and taught them to always use "myself" because it is (or was) seen as less obviously incorrect than a poorly chosen "I" or "me". It also saved many an athelete the confused look displayed when they tried to figure out which word was the correct one to use.

[coynedj]

And "we'd of" may actually be the English language's first double contraction (feel free to point out another, but none come to mind). It's really more "we'd've" than "we'd of". At least in my part of the country.

[Moonglow]

Add to the list the misuse of farther/further...

[McKay]

Originally Posted by coynedj

And "we'd of" may actually be the English language's first double contraction (feel free to point out another, but none come to mind). It's really more "we'd've" than "we'd of". At least in my part of the country.

I'm sure you're right: people hear "we'd've", don't quite hoist aboard what is being said, and interpret it as "we'd of". Someone writes it down and a new crime against the language takes hold... I suspect a similar origin for "prolly".

[Sufferable Fob]

I have got to work on my pronunciation most of all.

Much reading and little talking has left me with some things that are awkward to say out loud.

[Miket61]

Originally Posted by GWAlex

Is it me, or does a person who uses, incorrectly, "got" in place of "have" sound uneducated? Young people around my area and school have the tendency to say "I got a better idea", or "We got a new...", which is really irritating me.

Has anyone suffered from this problem?

"Got" is past tense of "get." If the person is referring to the acquiring of the object ("We got a new car last week), then I think it's acceptable. If they're referring to the having of the object ("I got a big car, let's take mine") then it's wrong.

[Laxplayer]

Originally Posted by coynedj

And "we'd of" may actually be the English language's first double contraction (feel free to point out another, but none come to mind). It's really more "we'd've" than "we'd of". At least in my part of the country.

"We'd've" is pretty common here as well. Sometimes it sounds more like "weeda" same with "I'd've and "ida".

I was reading an article not long ago about regional differences in pronunciation and accents. The one that confused me was the
Mary/merry/marry merger. I honestly have no idea how there is a pronunciation difference between those words. I pronounce them all the same. I understand the cot/caught merger and how those can be pronounced differently even though I say them the same way.

[WouldaShoulda]

Why I'd oughta...

[JerseyJohn]

Originally Posted by Laxplayer

"We'd've" is pretty common here as well. Sometimes it sounds more like "weeda" same with "I'd've and "ida".

Like the old "Jeet yet?" "Uskwoutn get sumpn"*. Unfortunately, I've seen "I'd of" actually written pretty often.

* Translation: "Did you eat yet? Let's go out and get something"

[Laxplayer]

Originally Posted by JerseyJohn

Like the old "Jeet yet?" "Uskwoutn get sumpn"*. Unfortunately, I've seen "I'd of" actually written pretty often.

* Translation: "Did you eat yet? Let's go out and get something"

"Jeet yet?" yes, I hear that often but without the southern accent and more like "jeetyet?"...spoken very quickly.