Gotcha

Maddy holds forth...

Chickie and I are both of the era and public education lineage where grammar held significant standing.  While I never grew certain of my ability to diagram a sentence and have only a vague grip on the “subjunctive”, which is not strictly required for English-speakers or the middle class, I have held to certain standards of pronunciation and use--so have had to curb my impulse to correct the use of "Gotcha" as an affirmative. 

I think the Boomer generation has lost the battle though.  I find lovely, educated, helpful adults of all ages use it routinely and repeatedly when they are providing essential education, such as help with online registration or banking, taking an order in a fancy restaurant, or hearing my answer to their question in the course our business.

 Chickie and I both have offspring who use it routinely in casual conversations and written communication, despite our no doubt annoying them about word choice as they advanced to adulthood. And I am certain it is colloquial in their professional workplaces.

So I did some research and found that “Gotcha” is now formally qualified for the Oxford English Dictionary.  If it is good enough for the OED I probably have to adjust my standards, just like I have to admit that I am no longer 5’10.  In fact, when I did some research on my complaint of the month, I found that  according to the OED "gotcha" has a history longer than my lifetime.

“INTERJECTION

1.     1859–

= ‘(I have) got you’ (see especially get v. I.14a, I.15d.i), usually with omission of ‘have’ and frequently also of ‘I’.”

Esp. used to express satisfaction or triumph, or to indicate understanding.

Above is the first definition and dominant usage. But the alternatives are somewhat opposite and could certainly be misunderstood by someone trying to master English.

So I am yielding--but not without a complaint and asking readers to confirm if I am just being “old-fashioned” (which I admit, I have been in some ways that have driven Chickie crazy all along.)  She may comment on this in future posts but I believe she is with me on "gotcha".

Feel free to use comments below to nominate your favorite peeves about grammar or slang as well.  It will be more educational than routine peeves about the small print on labels or the discontinuation of a long-favorite Campbell’s Soup flavor.

And on a separate note, if you know someone who hasn’t read Not The Trip We Planned we encourage you to recommend or gift it to them in the spirit of a the season of April Fools’ Day, coming soon, since it features two older women planning a stealthy “gotcha” on a nefarious fellow in the pursuit of justice. And please support Chickie and Maddy by writing an Amazon, Good Reads, or Bookshop review if you haven’t had a chance to do that yet.  Happy Spring 😊