Autistic non-verbal boy speaks directly to his mother for the first time.

[u/bendubberley_]

[u/Dboy777]

The man learned some real shit before he started speaking. 'Got' is a yucky word with many better substitutes.

[u/Evendim → u/Dboy777]

He was an incredibly observant man.

You're right, there is no need for the word got in nearly every example. I laugh about it with my own students and they try to stump me, but not once have they managed to find a context where it cannot be replaced with a better word.

It is "common" as he would have said. Coming from an Australian Electrician, that is kind of funny.

Oh and he would have swatted you across the head for your (American) spelling of "learnt". ;)

[u/o7_HiBye_o7 → u/Evendim]

I had an 8th grade reading teacher that was super awesome. Was the first to treat us as people and not kids. He let us eat/drink or even curse (respectfully) on papers and while Q+A parts happened. He had 3 rules.

1) If you get caught with food/drink/cursing, yoi were on your own and he didn't see/hear it.

2) never say "god damn" was religious, but respectful

3) never use the word "very"

He legit hated that word and I forgot until your story of the word "got". I never thought of it being a useless word. Unsure how often I use it day to day.

[u/NBAFansAre2Ply → u/o7_HiBye_o7]

I had a science teacher who taught us technical writing. he said to never use the word "it". For example, if you handed in a lab report and your observations said: "When I added the baking soda to the vinegar, it began to bubble" he'd mark me down and say "what began to bubble? the vinegar? the baking soda? the mixture? the flask? the table?

frustrating at the time but definitely helped me develop into a very clear and precise writer and get my B.Sc later down the road.