There’s something I have to get off my chest.

And that’s the word ‘got’.

May I just ask – what does it mean?!

According to one dictionary, ‘got’ means “to receive or obtain”. But it can also mean “to catch,” “to become,” “to understand,” “to cause” and “to be in possession of”.

Some people praise the English language for having such a versatile, three-letter word. And yes, I don’t think there are any other languages that have such a flexible word.

But to me, “got” is for a lazy man.

There are thousands – millions! – of words in our language and even more synonyms for these words. So why do we use such an unimaginative word like “got” so often?

Got got got.

Time for an example: “my friend got me a present.”

Can’t she have bought me a present? She could have made, found or even splurged on a present for me.

Here’s another example of how many exciting synonyms we have in the English language. Take another short word – dance. Just shift F7 on your computer and you can also “bop”, “boogie” and “get jiggy with it” !

Our speech and writing could be so much more exciting if we replaced “got” from time to time.

To add insult to injury, we have also shortened the most common “got” phrase – “got to go” – down even further. Thousands of MSN conversations have finished with “gtg”. And even worse – “g2g”.

Oh, the humanity!

Yes, you can argue in favour of the little word. After all, “I’ve thought of it!” doesn’t really have the same ring to it as “I’ve got it!”

And there are those fun little expressions like “get a move on,” “get cracking” and “get a word in edgeways” that wouldn’t be the same without the multipurpose word. Even the phrase “get jiggy with it” that I used earlier employs a form of “got”.

But I guess my point is that there are millions of words in the English language…

Surely we can think of something a little more creative from time to time?