GET (A) COLD = CATCH A COLD = become ill (infected) with a cold an acute viral infection of the upper respiratory passages characterized by discharge of watery mucus from the nose, sneezing, etc e.g. Let's dry our hair so we don't get a cold. Most of them caught colds and began to cough; one man of the draft was taken to hospital with pleurisy. GET COLD 1) a condition of low temperature: e. g. your dinner's getting cold; the nights are getting colder. 2) feeling no warmth; uncomfortably chilled e.g. I get cold a lot so I always carry a jacket with me. They were cold, but there wasn't anything warm to put on. see also this link: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=724722

Craig from Newcastle got the meanings of "cold" right but a cold is when you are sick and "I got cold" is the simple past of an experience of low temperature. If you got a cold then you got sick. If you got cold it means you experienced uncomfortable or painfully low temperatures.

I wouldn't say "I got cold". I would guess that, "I got cold" is just poor English. "Cold" can mean temperature or a disease. (the medical term is influenza, but when you become too cold or wet, you catch influenza, so English people say "I got a cold" and actually to be very thorough, influenza (flu) is a worse disease than a normal little cold.) I want to put my coat on because I am (I have become - I was - etc) COLD I have caught A cold because I didn't wear my coat. I hope that helps.