“Get lost” Means “Go away.”

Daily Prompt: No, Thank You

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

Oh, goody. The Daily Prompt gave me a chance to vent about a word I hate. I hereby ban the verbs Get and Got! 

Why? People use “Get” and “Got” so often it’s ridiculous. Consider the following:

  • I went to the store and got chips, pizza and sodas.
  • She’s getting a new pair of shoes.
  • I got to bed but couldn’t get to sleep.
  • We will get up in the morning and get breakfast.
  • Get me an order of fries.
  • He got a pair of fives.
  • Get lost.

How did you get chips, pizza and sodas? How did she get a pair of shoes? Whether bought, stole, or borrowed answers the question, use the more descriptive verb. Now, see my choices for some other sentences:

  • I went to bed but couldn’t sleep.”
  • When we wake up in the morning, we will go out for breakfast.
  • Bring me an order of fries.

Now, let me tell you something. “He got a pair of fives” was extremely difficult to write without using has. This sentence sets off every grammar alarm I have! I  think “He has a pair of fives” is  just as easy to say and more understandable.

“Get lost” might be my one exception to the ban. I used it for part of a post title not too long ago. However, “Leave me alone” or “Go away” works just as well.

There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of uses for “get” and “got”, but you don’t usually see “gotten.” My guess is the people who use “Get” and “Got”, don’t want to waste the time it takes to say, “She has gotten a pair of shoes that didn’t fit.” Instead they would butcher it by saying, “She got a pair of shoes that didn’t fit.” Ow, my brain is going to explode. 

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2 thoughts on ““Get lost” Means “Go away.””

  1. I think I want to permanently ban the phrase “Im fine” when most everyone says or answers with these words they are not just fine.. I actually want to know how people really are.. Including find people want to know how I am.. We all need to be honest and be ourselves!

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  2. Hey this was funny. I could’ve highlighted a lot of other words. I guess I was looking at words that come across so judgemental. I hate how people use the word “got” as well. Also, “flustrating” instead of “frustrating”, “classic” instead of “classical”, “libary” instead of “library”. And the misused word that bugs me the most? “Irregardless!” It’s not even a word. It’s “irrespective”.

    🙂

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