Canterbury by three, and about teatime I got home. I have got nothing
more to say."

Those who are disposed to overwork the words get and got will find it
interesting and profitable to read the foregoing exercise,
substituting other words for those in italics.

With have the word got is generally superfluous; as, "I have got a
cold," "I have got to go to Boston this evening," "Have you got
Hires's root-beer on draught?" For "I did not get to meet your
cousin," say "I had no opportunity," or "I was prevented," etc.

Another very faulty use of got is heard in such expressions as "He got
killed," "They got beaten," "She got cured," etc. Was or were would be
more appropriate.

Since to get means to obtain, to procure, to gain, the use of the word
is justified in such expressions as "I have got a larger farm than you
have, because I have worked harder for it." "I have got a better
knowledge of the Pacific coast than he has, because I traveled
extensively through that region." And yet, when we have been
overworked, the physician usually prescribes a period of absolute
rest; so, in
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view of the multifarious uses to which get has been applied, would it
not be well to permit it to retire for a time, in order that it may
the more quickly be rejuvenated.