Taken from an article written by By Martha Brockenbrough (undated)
There are a couple of interesting ways to look at got and gotten.
One is as a vestige of American rebellion. British English is much more likely to use have got than American English, which prefers have gotten.
Where a British writer might say, "The year has got off to a great start," an American one is more likely to say, "The year has gotten off to a great start."
But it's not just the Atlantic separating the senses of these two words. There are actually slight differences in meaning.
If you say, "I have got a wig," it means you have one in your possession. But "I have gotten a wig" means you've gone out and fetched one. Meanwhile, "I have got to go to the dentist" means you must do it. "I've gotten to go to the dentist" means you went and consider it a privilege.
Got it?
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