Posted by Els on 08/21/05 14:18

dorayme wrote:

>> From: Els <els.aNOSPAM@tiscali.nl>
>>
>> The huh? was cause I didn't know how you thought he'd got me. But
>> indeed, can't argue with a Mother :-)
>>
>> I'd explain the 'got you' in this context as 'got you cornered' rather
>> than 'scored a point' though ;-)
>>
>
> It is an English idiomatic thing, the Brits and the Aussies
> and even the Yanks say it.

Even the Dutch say it. Although in Dutch of course ;-)
"ik heb je te pakken". Literally it would mean "I grabbed you", "I got
hold of you", but figuratively it's the same as 'got you' in English.

> At the start of the Faulkland's
> war during which Britain sent a fleet to retake the
> Falkland islands from the Argentinians, a British sub sank
> an Argentinian cruiser (called I think, the "Belgrano")
> with hundreds of servicemen perishing. One of the British
> "gutter press" dailies screamed a headline afterwards:
> "GOTCHA!" Unpleasant context, but the point is about the
> idiomatic use...

I'd have thought that too low even for the worst tabloids, but yes, it
does demonstrate the idiomatic use :-)

> (btw, if I may say, if you are not a native English
> speaker, you are most accomplished.

Well thank you! :-)
Blame it on the Aussi's, South Africans and even the Brits I hung out
with on my travels ;-)

> You would be appalled at my Dutch!)

Is your Dutch existent then? If not, I couldn't be appalled by it ;-)

--
Els http://locusmeus.com/
Sonhos vem. Sonhos vão. O resto é imperfeito.
- Renato Russo -

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