GIVE ANSWERS - English

@Tace

I suppose it all depends on how you understand or define language. In my studies and work as a linguist, I always approach language from the perspective that it is a living, changing expression of human culture. I am always cautious not to tell language what it ought to do but rather to understand and to record what it does. If native speakers agree on a way of expressing an idea, I don’t tell them they shouldn’t speak their language like that. Sometimes expressions just don’t make sense grammatically (to the outsider), but that’s the beauty of language. :-)

@kso89,

Spain has an Academy of Spanish, the Real Academia Española. In America at least, we have no such thing. I have done a lot of research on this and you are right in as much as every allowance is made for poor writing by reputable writers, grammarians, editors, and lexicographers.

So to anyone learning English who doesn't care what words mean, then use English according to usage. If you care about what would be taught in a learning institution, you have to look at "rules."

The word "got" has a meaning, and "proper usage." You would say either, "I have it, " or "I got it."

When I did my research many years ago, this is what I found.

get (g t)
v. got, (g t) got·ten, (g t n) or got get·ting, gets
v. tr.
16.
a. To have current possession of. Used in the present perfect form with the meaning of the present: We've got plenty of cash.17

When the dictionary says, "Used in the present perfect form with the meaning of the present," it shows at a minimum, someone doesn't know how to use tenses, and at worst, an error is now considered correct by a DESCRIPTIVE source, not a prescriptive source.

Now, in British English, I just don't know. I for one simply don't want to lose subtlety in a language so as to avoid having to be wrong.

I disagree with this. The only difference between “have” and “have got” is that the latter is somewhat more informal. It’s also a bit more commonly used in British English than in American, but both ways of expressing the idea are absolutely correct.

Hi Tace,
Thank you very much not only for your answer but also for your correction.I'll make a note of the use of "got" and "have" in the contexts you alluded to. Another evidence, if needed, that I still have to make progress...
By the way, here is the answer to my riddle : the kind of "running" that means walking is "running short of gas"...
Have a nice week-end and all the best.

Didier.