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Gotten vs Gotcha - What's the difference?

gotten | gotcha |

As nouns the difference between gotten and gotcha

is that gotten is while gotcha is (colloquial) a potential problem or source of trouble.

As a contraction gotcha is

(colloquial) got you; have you; as in capture or apprehend.

gotten

English

Verb

(head)
  • (now mostly, North America, Irish, Northern British)
    • Usage notes
    The American and archaic British usage of the verb conjugates as get-got-gotten or as get-got-got depending on the meaning (see for details), whereas the modern British usage of the verb has largely lost this distinction and conjugates as get-got-got in most cases.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (mostly in combination) obtained, acquired

    • Derived terms

    * ill-gotten English irregular past participles

    gotcha

    English

    Alternative forms

    * gotchya

    Etymology 1

    Written form of a of got you .

    Contraction

    (en-cont)
  • (colloquial) Got you; have you; as in capture or apprehend.
    • I gotcha now, ya little twerp.
  • (colloquial) Understand; comprehend.
    • Yeah, I gotcha . Good thinkin'!
  • (colloquial) Got you covered, got your back; when you have an advantage or responsibility over someone.
    • Gotcha! Go on in...
  • (colloquial) Got you back; as in after causing some form of retaliation or revenge against someone.
    • Gotcha! And don't ever do that to me again.
  • (colloquial) Got you by surprise; Exclamation indicating a successful trick or prank.
    • Gotcha! They never notice the whoopie cushion!
  • (colloquial) 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.
    • Derived terms
    * gotcha keyword
    Related terms
    * getcha

    Etymology 2

    Direct acquisition of gotcha , the contraction of got you .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (colloquial) A potential problem or source of trouble.
    • Review the work thoroughly and make sure there are no gotchas .
  • (colloquial) An instance of publicly tricking someone or exposing them to ridicule, especially by means of an elaborate deception.
    • They change the number at random intervals and if you miss a sign, bingo - gotcha ! http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/gotcha
  • (colloquial) An instance of accomplishing a tricky idea or overcoming a difficult obstacle.
    • Now here's another few gotcha s that you can do to implement it.
    Derived terms
    * game of gotcha

    See also

    * gotta * letcha * letchya

    References

    English predicates