"Made" vs "Got"

[BMBPSU2008]

Before coming to this site, I never heard someone refer to receiving a grade in a class as "making" it. Is it a regional thing? Vote and post where you hail from.

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[DoctorDreamer]

Before coming to this site, I never heard someone refer to receiving a grade in a class as "making" it. Is it a regional thing? Vote and post where you hail from.

I say both, but lean towards "made" and I'm from Oklahoma.

 

[Maxprime]

Another interesting is when taking an exam. Some people, especially Canadiens, will say they "sat for" or "wrote" an exam instead of "taking" it.

 

[PanicAttack]

I earned an A.

 

[dodger84]

Before coming to this site, I never heard someone refer to receiving a grade in a class as "making" it. Is it a regional thing? Vote and post where you hail from.

I'm from NJ and we always said "got" if choosing between "got" and "made". Somebody who moved to our school from West Virginia always asked "what did you make" and I was very confused in the beginning. It's probably a regional thing. I prefer neither of these, though.

 

[Oasis]

why do some people say "wrote the" MCAT...everyone i know always says "took the" MCAT

 

[amp3r5and]

this is funny.

i'm from md. i always said "got" until i went to school in nc. now i find myself saying "made"

 

[BMBPSU2008]

I'm from NJ and we always said "got" if choosing between "got" and "made". Somebody who moved to our school from West Virginia always asked "what did you make" and I was very confused in the beginning. It's probably a regional thing. I prefer neither of these, though.

Yea I'm from Jersey too.. even out here in Central Pennsylvania they say "got"

 

[armybound]

Another interesting is when taking an exam. Some people, especially Canadiens, will say they "sat for" or "wrote" an exam instead of "taking" it.

I've never sat for or written an exam. I don't know where this stuff comes from.

I say both made and got, sometimes depending on how it's graded.. if it's a subjective grading like an essay, probably got.. if it's an exam, made.

 

[ryandote]

.

 

[howdy2u]

definitely "made" in Cali

 

[BMBPSU2008]

I think it is less of a regional thing and more of a general class, intelligence, and breeding fitness thing: I say "get/got" and so that's how it should be.


Just kidding. I think it is regional. My wife grew up in Atlanta and despite missing out on the southern accent she says:

"I made* good grades" (got)

"My mom dumped* me off at the mall" (dropped)

"Pitch* it in the trashcan" (throw)

Like them Pittsburgians say..

"Sweep" the floor (vacuum)

Hand me a "pop" (soda)

Bound it with a "gum band" (rubber band)

Weird... lol

 

[dd128]

I think you "make" A's and B's, but you "get" anything below that 🙂

 

[GoldShadow]

I'm in CT, and I've only ever heard "got" a grade, never "make".

 

[doinmybest5840]

Everyone I know says "got" and I'm from MI. It must be a southern thing (and California).

 

[KeyzerSoze]

I've never sat for or written an exam. I don't know where this stuff comes from.

British English.

 

[Begaster]

I'm from Ontario:

I got an A.

I wrote the MCAT.

 

[SStorm]

I'm from Wisconsin:

"I got an A"

"I got a soda"

"I swept the floor" (if with a broom) "I vacuumed the floor" (if with a vacuum

Definitely "rubber band"

"I took the MCAT".

 

[inaminute]

Pittsburgh? your vocabulary "needs fixed."

what's fascinating to me is how shocked and undone some people get because someone uses a different word---dodger, you actually didn't know what they meant when they asked what you "made"? dayum, prepare yourself for the outside world!

what do they say on TV shows? got or made? that's Uhmerrican!

 

[clab1707]

From IL, and I've only heard people say "Got". However, I may switch to "made" so I can start giving myself more credit!

 

[inaminute]

well, whether you made it or not, you got that grade 😀

 

[pntgrd]

I'm from CA, and it's "got", not "made".

 

[coldweatherblue]

I taught ESL for a while in eastern europe and it's interesting to see the different ways of saying the same thing in English.

example:

Do you have a dog? (American)

Have you got a dog? (British)

My students always said "I wrote the test." rather than "I took the test." because that's how they were first taught.

honestly I enjoy hearing new ways of saying things and trying to use them in everyday speech. It's important to be able to communicate effortlessly with people from different backgrounds...

fwiw, I'm from Tennessee and we always said "I got an A.". However I do remember hearing something like "I made good grades."

 

[inaminute]

I taught ESL for a while in eastern europe and it's interesting to see the different ways of saying the same thing in English.

example:

Do you have a dog? (American)

Have you got a dog? (British)

My students always said "I wrote the test." rather than "I took the test." because that's how they were first taught.

honestly I enjoy hearing new ways of saying things and trying to use them in everyday speech. It's important to be able to communicate effortlessly with people from different backgrounds...

fwiw, I'm from Tennessee and we always said "I got an A.". However I do remember hearing something like "I made good grades."

"got" is a pretty informal word IMO---kind of colloquial

 

[spanamit]

definitely "made" in Cali

You are kidding right? I have been in CA all my life. And it is definitely "got."

 

[derArzt]

Same with a few of the above posters...

From the north, grew up saying 'got'
Moved south, everyone here says 'made'

 

[derArzt]

Did any of you fellow northerners also get confused when you moved south and people told you to "cut the lights"??

 

[TexanGirl]

Well, only on SDN are people pretentious enough to discuss their grades. 🙄

Personally, I've never noticed the difference. I think it's more of a personal preference than a regional thing. I say both, but I do agree that got is a little too colloquial for my likingl, so I prefer saying made.

Did any of you fellow northerners also get confused when you moved south and people told you to "cut the lights"??

I've never heard that. What does that mean? A couple of things I was confused about when I first moved to TX was coke = meaning any carbonated beverage, "suckers" rather than lollipops, and "tennis shoes" vs. sneakers. A couple others too, but that's all I can think of for now.

 

[inaminute]

they don't say "cut the lights," they say "cut OFF the lights" or "cut the lights off," as opposed to "turning" off the lights, and in some places it's "switching" the lights off.

if you never heard "tennis shoes" or "suckers" for those items before, I wonder where you were sequestered...

there are odder examples than those, like some regions call a shopping cart a "buggy" rather than "cart," some regions call a ball-point pen a "fountain pen," and whether it's a "faucet" or a "tap" or a "spigot" depends on where you're from; "toot" the horn versus "honk" or "beep" the horn; is it a "wastebasket" or a "trash can"? do you put "trash" in it or "rubbish"?

I think it's becoming more about what your parents use than where you live, too.

 

[RySerr21]

definitely "made" in Cali

what part of cali are you from? ive never heard "made" in my life and I'm from San diego

secondly, "I wrote the MCAT" just sounds dumb. even more now that its on a computer

thirdly, i'm not sure if this is just a northern california thing., but whoever came up with the word "hella" should be fined or punished somehow. as a southern californian its probably one of the most annoying words in the "english language." especially when people say it before everything

 

[pinkpanther88]

from GA and I say "got" ... never really heard made

 

[spanamit]

thirdly, i'm not sure if this is just a northern california thing., but whoever came up with the word "hella" should be fined or punished somehow. as a southern californian its probably one of the most annoying words in the "english language." especially when people say it before everything

You are hecka lame. 😀

 

[derArzt]

they don't say "cut the lights," they say "cut OFF the lights" or "cut the lights off," as opposed to "turning" off the lights, and in some places it's "switching" the lights off.

No, actually I meant what I said. Maybe by some crazy chance we aren't speaking to the exact same people.

 

[TexanGirl]

if you never heard "tennis shoes" or "suckers" for those items before, I wonder where you were sequestered...

Brooklyn, NY thank you very much!

there are odder examples than those, like some regions call a shopping cart a "buggy" rather than "cart," some regions call a ball-point pen a "fountain pen," and whether it's a "faucet" or a "tap" or a "spigot" depends on where you're from; "toot" the horn versus "honk" or "beep" the horn; is it a "wastebasket" or a "trash can"? do you put "trash" in it or "rubbish"?

It's not just about how odd they are. It's about how odd and PREDOMINANT they are--the widespread usage of some of these terms makes it even more weird. Your examples, strange as they are, aren't commonplace at all in the continental US, whereas the regional difference between the lingo of the North and South is very common and pronounced in some of the terms I listed.

I think it's becoming more about what your parents use than where you live, too.

True that, I'll vouch for my parents messing up my English. I'll say "close the light" or "open the TV" instead of "turn off the light" and "turn on the TV" without ever noticing it. In my native language, that is the idiomatic way to express those requests. But trying to speak a hybrid language makes it messy.

 

[inaminute]

No, actually I meant what I said. Maybe by some crazy chance we aren't speaking to the exact same people.

not possible. you are simply wrong. 😀

 

[inaminute]

It's not just about how odd they are. It's about how odd and PREDOMINANT they are--the widespread usage of some of these terms makes it even more weird. Your examples, strange as they are, aren't commonplace at all in the continental US, whereas the regional difference between the lingo of the North and South is very common and pronounced in some of the terms I listed.

huh? it's American idiomatic English, and if it's predominant and widespread, why is it weird? fer hell's sake, people say hella alla time. And my examples are indeed commonplace in the continental US.

FYI the "North" and "South" aren't so pure anymore and the examples you used earlier have nothing to do with "North-South" vocabulary differences.

 

[nevercold]

No doubt whatever words each region or dialect uses is mainly a product of what their parents used and what their parents' parents used, etc.

I think I can understand using the verb "to get" and "to make" to refer to grades. However, I think "to get" is probably more grammatically correct. In a class, there are exams and other assignments that the student participates in and is then judged on. The grade is a determination by someone other than the student that is then given to the student as an evaluation and feedback on their performance. The student's efforts certainly help make their grade, but ultimately it is the teacher's choice which grade to award. Thus the student really receives the grade -- i.e. "to get".

As for "to take" or "to write" an exam, I think the former, "to take," is more appropriate. "To write" in reference to an exam is definitely more of a non-American usage. When you have an exam, it is something that has been written by someone else. The student supplies answers to the questions on the exam, but they do not craft the exam itself. So while there is writing involved on the part of the student, that writing is the answers, not the exam itself. Hence, I think "writing" an exam does not sound appropriate. Since someone else generates the exam/questions, it is reasonable to use a verb that indicates that there is a recipient and answerer of the exam questions, hence "to take."

 

[inaminute]

No doubt whatever words each region or dialect uses is mainly a product of what their parents used and what their parents' parents used, etc.

I think I can understand using the verb "to get" and "to make" to refer to grades. However, I think "to get" is probably more grammatically correct. In a class, there are exams and other assignments that the student participates in and is then judged on. The grade is a determination by someone other than the student that is then given to the student as an evaluation and feedback on their performance. The student's efforts certainly help make their grade, but ultimately it is the teacher's choice which grade to award. Thus the student really receives the grade -- i.e. "to get".

As for "to take" or "to write" an exam, I think the former, "to take," is more appropriate. "To write" in reference to an exam is definitely more of a non-American usage. When you have an exam, it is something that has been written by someone else. The student supplies answers to the questions on the exam, but they do not craft the exam itself. So while there is writing involved on the part of the student, that writing is the answers, not the exam itself. Hence, I think "writing" an exam does not sound appropriate. Since someone else generates the exam/questions, it is reasonable to use a verb that indicates that there is a recipient and answerer of the exam questions, hence "to take."

as in "I GOT reamed on that exam." I see your point.

 

[TexanGirl]

huh? it's American idiomatic English, and if it's predominant and widespread, why is it weird? fer hell's sake, people say hella alla time. And my examples are indeed commonplace in the continental US.

Please do specify what region of the country uses buggy instead of cart, a fountain pen instead of a ballpoint pen, tap instead of faucet, etc.

And yes, while certain words and idioms may be predominant and widespread in one region, it does not necessarily follow that that will be the case in another region. That's where the strangeness arises. Imagine a Midwesterner saying pop for soda in Alabama, or a New Yorker ordering "1 pie (as pizza)" in Texas, and the reaction of humor and flabbergasted-ness is what you will see.

FYI the "North" and "South" aren't so pure anymore and the examples you used earlier have nothing to do with "North-South" vocabulary differences.

True, agreed, I should have been more location-specific. Sneakers, for example, is used primarily in the Northeast, not the entire northern part of the country like I mentioned. Other than that, I think my examples were pretty spot on. Calling all carbonated beverages coke is as Southern English as you can get. As for sucker, I had no idea what a sucker was when I first heard it, and my Texan friends chided me for calling it a lollipop (they said it sounded childish or something) so I do believe that may be also a geographic term.

 

[silverlining1]

You are kidding right? I have been in CA all my life. And it is definitely "got."

I'm with you. I was born and raised in SoCal, and I go to school in NorCal - I "get" A's and "take" tests.

 

[inaminute]

And yes, while certain words and idioms may be predominant and widespread in one region, it does not necessarily follow that that will be the case in another region. That's where the strangeness arises. Imagine a Midwesterner saying pop for soda in Alabama, or a New Yorker ordering "1 pie (as pizza)" in Texas, and the reaction of humor and flabbergasted-ness is what you will see.

True, agreed, I should have been more location-specific. Sneakers, for example, is used primarily in the Northeast, not the entire northern part of the country like I mentioned. Other than that, I think my examples were pretty spot on. Calling all carbonated beverages coke is as Southern English as you can get. As for sucker, I had no idea what a sucker was when I first heard it, and my Texan friends chided me for calling it a lollipop (they said it sounded childish or something) so I do believe that may be also a geographic term.

my spouse is from Michigan and calls it a sucker. Sorry, it ain't Texan. "Sneakers" is used all over the country, too.

and it's pretty silly to think a person in Alabama would be "flabbergasted" by hearing "pop." It's not an isolated state nor is it full of untraveled, poorly-read ignorant people, no matter what people from NYC think. Ditto Texans hearing "pie." I think most Americans are able to slog through dialectical quirks more easily than you give them credit for.

 

[Asp]

I'm with you. I was born and raised in SoCal, and I go to school in NorCal - I "get" A's and "take" tests.

"I get"

"I take"

*sigh*

Typical entitlement culture.

 

[Mayday]

Washington state here

I "got" an A
I would like to have a "pop" to drink
I "took" a test
I eat a "sucker"
I wear "tennis shoes"


I actually grew up on the eastern side of the state - it's much more rural than over here in the Seattle area. When I first moved over here, people would say that they needed new thongs for summer. I was a bit confused, trying to figure out why in the hell they felt the need to tell me that they needed new underwear (not to mention why they wanted to tell me what kind! 😱). Didn't say anything of course, and eventually, I figured out that they were talking of the summer time shoes that I had always called "flip-flops"

 

[LeLu]

From SE.

I would say "I made 2 A's and 1 B"

I think it is crazy to say "I got 2 A's and 1 B"

 

[RySerr21]

From SE.

I would say "I made 2 A's and 1 B"

I think it is crazy to say "I got 2 A's and 1 B"

na uh....you're crazy!!!!!! na na na na boo boo

 

[GoldShadow]

The only person who "made" As and Bs was the inventor of the english alphabet.

 

[Asp]

Byrhtferð?

 

[Asp]

Actually he only "ordered" A and B, didn't make 'em.

 

[sylus]

from the Southwest (NM) and i say both, but probably "got" more.

also coke = carbonated beverage, took a test, sucker not lollipop, and tennis shoes not sneakers, and something no one has mentioned yet but is totally regional, arroyo not ditch 🙂

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Depends on the situation for me.

It can be.... "HOLY S*** I got an A"

Or some bs class... "yeah i made an A"