Madam, - Surely Norman Jackson (May 14th) doesn't think that all the people who now say "gotten" instead of "got" have been basing their language on that of the King James version of the Holy Bible? If that were the case, we would hear "verily", "thee", "thou" and other archaic expressions gracing the environment.
No, the fact is that "gotten" travelled to America and remained in usage there when people over here replaced it with "got". It is therefore an American usage, and the fact that it is now spreading like a weed in Ireland is a slightly worrying indication of the influence of the airwaves.
If we are swallowing the language uncritically, can we expect the same to happen with culture, values, lifestyle and ethics? - Yours, etc,
ROBERT NICHOLSON,
Bayview Rise,
Killiney, Co Dublin.