What is "gotcha"

by 1913, colloquial pronunciation of "(I have) got you."

Etymology 1 contraction 1 (context colloquial English) Got you; have you; as in capture or apprehend. 2 (context colloquial English) understand; comprehend. 3 (context colloquial English) Got you covered, got your back; when you have an advantage or responsibility over someone. 4 (context colloquial English) Got you back; as in after causing some form of retaliation or revenge against someone. 5 (context colloquial English) Got you by surprise; Exclamation indicating a successful trick or prank. 6 (context colloquial English) Got you by surprise; as in engineering or computer programming; typically an unintended consequence or problem caused by a small variation in areas such as command syntax, function definition, results application. (rfex) Etymology 2

n. 1 (context colloquial English) A potential problem or source of trouble. 2 (context colloquial English) An instance of publicly tricking someone or exposing them to ridicule, especially by means of an elaborate deception. 3 (context colloquial English) An instance of accomplishing a tricky idea or overcoming a difficult obstacle. 4 (context computing English) a feature of a system or a program that works in the way it is documented but is counter-intuitive and almost invites mistake or non-function.

In programming, a gotcha is a valid construct in a system, program or programming language that works as documented but is counter-intuitive and almost invites mistakes because it is both easy to invoke and unexpected or unreasonable in its outcome.

Gotcha (colloquial for "got you") or I gotcha may refer to:

• Gotcha (programming), a counter-intuitive, but documented, behavior in a computer system (as opposed to a bug)
• "Gotcha", a practical joke performed on a celebrity on the television show Noel's House Party
• Gotcha (video game), a 1973 arcade game
• Gotcha journalism, a newspaper reporting style
• Gotcha (headline) , a controversial frontpage headline which appeared in The Sun newspaper, on 4 May 1982
• Assassin (game), a live action game (also known as Gotcha)
• The title of the Starsky & Hutch theme song
• "Gotcha", an episode of Coupling
• "Gotcha" (song), a song by Jessica Mauboy
• Gotcha! (1985 film), starring Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino
• Gotcha! The Sport!, a 1987 video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
• Gotcha! (album), a 1999 album by Salsa band DLG
• Gotcha! (funk band), a Dutch funk band
• Gotcha! (quartet), a barbershop quartet
• "Gotcha!" (Adventure Time), an episode of Adventure Time
• "I Gotcha" (Joe Tex song)
• "I Gotcha" (Lupe Fiasco song)

Gotcha is a 1973 arcade game manufactured by Atari Inc.. It was Atari's fourth game after Pong, Space Race, and Pong Doubles. It is a two-player maze game where the objective is to catch the other player. A maze is displayed on the screen. The first player controls the Pursuer which is represented by a square and the second player controls the Pursued which is represented by a plus sign. As the Pursuer moves closer and closer to the Pursued, an electronic beep sound increases in frequency to a feverish pitch until the Pursuer catches the Pursued. Each time, the Pursuer catches the Pursued, a point is scored and the chase starts over again.

"Gotcha" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriter Jessica Mauboy for the soundtrack album The Sapphires to the 2012 musical film of the same name, in which Mauboy stars as Julie McCrae. The song was written by Mauboy, Louis Schoorl and Ilan Kidron, and produced by The Schoolkids. It was released as the lead single from the soundtrack album on 13 July 2012. Musically, "Gotcha" is an upbeat pop and swing dance song, which incorporates influences of motown and elements of 1960s music.

"Gotcha" garnered positive reviews from music critics, who praised its sound. The song peaked at number 43 on the ARIA Singles Chart and number 11 on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). "Gotcha" earned Mauboy two nominations at the 2012 ARIA Music Awards for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Release. The accompanying music video was directed by Samuel Leighton-Dore and features Mauboy inside a recording studio performing with a band. To promote the song, Mauboy performed the song live on Sunrise and at Nickelodeon Australia's Slimefest concert.