new comer's question on "Are you playing "gotcha" with me? "

Question

I saw you said: "Are you playing "gotcha" with me?" in a post, what does it mean? thanks :-)

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

I'm the one who used that expression.

"Gotcha" is a corruption of "Got you", which means "I have got you" or "I have caught you", the idea being that one person has caught the other in a contradiction.

Someone who is posting in this way, hoping to catch someone posting information or opinions different from those contained in a different post by the same person, is not always using the forums in good faith, but making a game of it, trying to entrap others into saying apparently contradictory things, hence the word playing.

A very common method is to take something from a published source, perhaps written a century ago by a famous person -- especially something which would be regarded as incorrect in modern English -- and place it in a post and ask what is wrong with it. When the moderators, or others, respond with the corrections, the original poster then comes back with the statement that it was written by so-and-so, some famous author, so it cannot be wrong. In effect, he's saying "I caught you", or "Gotcha!" The implication is that the person who provided the corrections is incompetent.

Sometimes these questions arise from a desire to be obstructionist, but almost equally often the source of the problem is some misunderstanding about how language works, or about how a particular grammatical structure works in different contexts.

In the recent case where I made that remark, I placed a smiley face next to it to indicate that I was not seriouslyaccusing anyone of this.

CJ

Iamnewbie · Answer

I see, thank you :-)

Peaceblinkfriend · Answer

Hi Calif Jim,

Sorry to be off topic but I really want to clear this up.

In effect, he's saying "I caught you", or "Gotcha!"
Firstly, what does 'in effect' mean here? Secondly, when you said 'he's saying...', do you mean that he was implying that he caught you in a contradiction or do you mean he literally wrote the words?

Thank you for all you help. English is such an interesting language.

Best wishes,

PBF

CalifJim · Answer

in effect has the sense of as if. It means having the same effect as something else would have.

When I'm in my car and I see you and I wave to you and smile as I drive by, in effect I'm saying "Hi! How are you?" I don't really say "Hi! How are you?" but my actions have that effect. It is as if I had said that.

do you mean that he was implying that he caught you in a contradiction or do you mean he literally wrote the words?

So I mean he was implying that he caught me, not that he literally wrote the words.

OK?

CJ

Kooyeen · Answer

Hey, I'm the one who was playing gotcha!

Seriously, I was not playing gotcha actually, it's just that I usually try to remember the content of the posts I read, the important posts...
So, I remembered opening a thread on a related topic, and I also remembered you answered in that thread, and what you answered, Jim! As you see, I (usually) remember what you teach me... so you have to be careful, because you could be held responsible for whatever happens to my English (and you could be sued for linguistic damages).

CalifJim · Answer

Understood.

CJ

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