Is it Bad Grammar or Today's Usage?

I frequently notice odd turns of phrase in recent years. The newest phrase that is hurting my ears is "looks to be." She "looks to be" in good health. Looks to be? What happened to good old fashioned, "appears to be?" Another phrase that I have had difficulty adjusting to, but I believe I have almost arrived at an adjustment is "she has gotten a lot taller this past year" for example. "Has gotten?" What about the old standby, "She has become...."? Or she has grown? The excessive use of "got" in it's various forms is jumping out at me as being new and odd. My mother notices this also. (Of course, she is the one who corrected my grammar when I was a child, and she is well educated for her generation.) There are a few other such phrases (pretty much comes to mind). That is pretty much the whole story. We used to say, "That is pretty well the whole story." But my husband a British school teacher cringed at that usage of the word "pretty." He would have said that was an incorrect usage of the word pretty, which means lovely to look at and is not a measurement of degree at all.

This entry into my blog has diverted me from my work so I best get back to it. If I think of more phrases to complain about, I will post on another date.