Dan: Hello and welcome to Authentic Real English from BBC Learning English. I'm Dan.

Feifei: 大家好，我是冯菲菲。Dan have you arranged everything for the office party tomorrow?

Dan: The party? Oh absolutely.

Feifei: You remembered to book the restaurant?

Dan: Uh-huh.

Feifei: Because it's really important that it's been reserved. 你可千万要记住订一个桌子，否则明天晚上的晚餐聚会就没戏了， 这个非常重要。

Dan: Really important. Gotcha.

Feifei: Gotcha?

Dan: Gotcha. It means I understand. It's short for I've got you.

Feifei: Ah gotcha. Gotcha 的意思就是懂了，明白了。So if you understand something you can say gotcha. Is it rude?

Dan: Well, it's very informal. You wouldn't hear it in a very polite conversation. Let's hear some examples of people using the phrase gotcha.

Example

A: Don't forget to post those letters – they're really important.

B: Gotcha; I'll do that right now.

Dan: So gotcha there means I understand. But it can also be used to show you've just played a joke on someone.

Feifei: 我们和某人开玩笑，那个人当真了，这是我们就可以说 gotcha. Again it means I've got you.

Examples

A: Hey did you know that they're adding Brad Pitt's face to Mount Rushmore?

B: No way! That's incredible!

A: Ahh gotcha! They're not really!

A: Hey these tickets are really cheap!

B: Yeah, but the gotcha is that the flights are really early.

Dan: In that last example gotcha wasn't being used to show that he was playing a joke, but instead that there was a catch or a hitch. Although the tickets were cheap, the gotcha was that the flights were really early.

Feifei: So gotcha 也有隐情，圈套的意思。

Dan: Right, I better go now Feifei. I've got to book the table for tomorrow.

Feifei: What? You said you'd booked it already!

Dan: Ahh gotcha! Of course I have.

Feifei: Ugh.

Dan: Bye!

Feifei: Bye!