Forum: english.stackexchange.com
Tags: <meaning><idioms>
Title: What does 'gotcha' mean?
Question: What does 'gotcha' mean? When would you use it?

Answers:
sents: text: Gotcha actually has several meanings.
text: All of them can be derived from the phrase of which this is a phonetic spelling, namely "[I have] got you".
text: Literally, from the sense of got =
text: "caught, obtained", it means "I've caught you".
text: As in, you were falling, and I caught you, or you were running, and I grabbed you.
text: It's a short step from the benign type of caught to the red-handed type of caught .
text: Thus, gotcha is often used when you witness someone doing something naughty.
text: Again, it's a short step from I
text: -caught-you-doing-something-you-
text: oughtn't to Surprise!
text: I tricked you!
text: This sense of gotcha is used when someone falls for a practical joke, for example.
text: A somewhat-natural progression from the
text: "I tricked you" meaning is gotcha used as a noun: this is a feature of a system (e.g. a programming language) which trips you up or catches you off-guard.
text: And finally, from the figurative sense of got =
text: "understood", gotcha can be used to mean "Aha, I see now" or "I understand".
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/1547/Marthaª
score: 65
sents: text: Following from Jasper Loy's statement.
text: It is short for
text: "Got you!" , itself having the subject implied
text: "I have got you." .
text: It regularly means, at least in the UK, "I understand [what you mean]" .
text: A:
text: You turn left, then right, gostraight on and it is on your left.
text: B: Gotcha! and A
text: : They'll never know who did it... <manic laughter>
text: B: Gotcha!
text: You little tyke!
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/2253/Orbling
score: 11
sents: text: It is short for got you .
text: We use it when we have caught somebody doing something or when we have tricked somebody.
text: In fact, there was a comedy show called Gotcha!
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 7
sents: text: Gotcha 'Got you' like caught you doing something you should be doing.
text: In programming a variable of step not considered that causes an error.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 5
sents: text: It can also mean literally "I have got you.
text: " If I catch someone before they fall, I could say "Gotcha!"
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/23/kitukwfyer
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
The word "Gotcha" has several meanings and all of them can be derived from the phonetic spelling of "Got you". In the UK, it is used to say "I understand". It also used when catching or tricking somebody.
Gotcha has several meanings and is a shortened form of "I have got you".otcha" has several meanings and is a shortened form of "I have got you".It can mean "tricked" someone or "found someone out". In programming it is  a variable of step not considered that causes an error.  If you catch someone before they fall, you can "Gotcha!". You caught them before the fall.
The word "Gotcha" has several meanings and all of them can be derived from the phonetic spelling of "Got you". In the UK, it is used to say "I understand". It also used when catching or tricking somebody.
"Gotcha" means "Got you" or  "Caught you out".
"Gotcha" is short for "got you" or "I have got you". It can be used when you have caught somebody doing something, when you have tricked somebody, or if you catch someone before they fall.
"Gotcha" is short for "got you" and has several meanings. It is often used when catching someone physically, such as when they fall, or catching someone figuratively, when doing something that they should be.