Gotcha
Gotcha. He said, just as I was about to repeat my instructions.
Oh, I said. Well. Good.
Gotcha no longer means “Tricked you.” It now means Yup. Roger that. Now, let’s move.
I have heard this expression more and more lately and as a rule I don’t like this kind of short-cut language. Slang. My mother was never a fan of slang. She wanted complete sentences with structure and verbal punctuation and, God Help Me, I find that some her dislike of mangled English seems to have been passed down to me. But my mother was not always right. We were never allowed to wear jandals (bad for the posture) or study ballet (only for cheap girls who like to wear makeup) or wear make up (only for cheap girls who study typing) or wear bras (drawing attention to ourselves as we type) or talk to boys (inviting Trouble with a capital T that would ruin your make-up) OR study typing (I had to study the Arts).
Oh how I wish I had learnt typing – my TWO typing fingers get so tired!
Anyway , I have chosen to embrace ‘Gotcha’.
I never say it of course – I won’t go that far – but when I hear it said to me it sounds so comforting. It sounds like I no longer need to worry. They understand. I can take my hands off. The information has been successfully delivered. No longer my problem. Gotcha. Over to you.
I like it.
Do you remember, Lori the lady who adopted Lurch – whose name was Maggie, well a friend of hers made Lurch’s wheelchair. This woman is going to have a go at making a two wheeled chariot for Tane. (One of the Fellowship suggested this a while back but it has taken this long for me to give up on Tane walking by himsef). We are still at the discussion stage but I am feeling tentatively hopeful. I have looked online too but they are too expensive and we need something for a long, short, round pig. With wheels he can go for therapy walks around the property – under supervision – using his strong front legs, and his back legs touching the ground and working without the weight on them, straightening out his spine and getting his heart rate up. I will work with this person and if this does not work begin the search to find a second hand chariot for a pig.
This is an experiment after all. Tane may reject it. And he has teeth and tusks as back up. So I am still working on the idea. This will be the farmy’s Christmas challenge. Wheels for the little boar.
Gotcha.
I love Sheila. She is still wonderfully fit and slim and would never use slang. She is a proper lady pig so she is. Albeit with a muddy bottom.
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
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[D] You ought to read up on the ‘nice’! A word that has – over several centuries – been around and come around, but is now so worn out that it is misused and overlooked … and yet when used right it is just … nice!
Nice! Yes! Such a sweet word. c
We just have to convince Tane that he loves his chariot, can’t imagine getting along without it, etc… easy thing to do with a pig, right 😉
Just researching at this point – the prices might be just too high for this kind of experiment.. c
I wonder if the wheels and base from an old pram would work – maybe one with suspension. I seem to remember a type with lowish wheels, I think the supports were hinged to collapse and load them into cars. The base above the wheels is intended for shopping or luggage. Maybe some kind of Tane support could be fixed to that 😉
Celi — I have faith that you who can train piglets to potty outside and have every animal understand their individual call can somehow help Tane understand a chariot for his wonky back issues!
When a chariot is devised & delivered to Tane, I hope he’ll say “Gotcha!” Today’s was a winning post, Celi.
I am more and more convinced that animals see things through pictures and your attitude. My sister had adopted a German shepherd about a year ago. The dog has always been afraid of me (barking, growling and running away from me each time I came over.) Animals have always loved me so this was very distressing. Was at my sister’s for Thanksgiving last week and the same routine started (barking and growling). I decided to start visualizing a happy dog and me sitting on the floor petting it. I did this through out the evening when later on my sister and I were sitting chatting after dinner. Her dog walked up to me tentatively and started licking my hand and I was able to actually pet her!
Maybe if you start visualizing Tane happy and running around with his cart may make the transition and training easier?! Couldn’t hurt?
I love this. I read in an animal training book once that animals are very psychic and think in pictures and the advice was to do just this. So hey it’s worth a try, right? And Celi, I love that you are getting our boy a chariot made for him.
I have read much on animals reading our energy. I have been trying this lately with the neighbor’s dogs. For more than a year those big lugs have barked and groweled continually and I have yelled back and had awful thoughts about them. But recently I began talking softly and in friendly tones. Can you believe they do not carry on with the barking once I speak? Any time I walk by they start to bark and I respond positively and kindly. They just watch me. I wish I had tried this much sooner. It’s a lot less stressful for me as well!
And here I thought I was the only one who still typed full sentences on text messages and the like.
Have a fabulous day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
I do that too!
Yay for us, old fashioned souls. 🙂 Have a happy day. 🙂 xo
I can’t use the typed slang on texts either! It just goes against the grain.
Absolutely! Glad I am not alone on the slang thing too. Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂 xo
Takes me for bloody ever to send a text. Just can’t do the shorthand. Looks wrong, sounds wrong, feels wrong. My daughter laughs, but I don’t care.
Chris S in Canada
Yay Chris! Pleased there are a few other old fashioned folk like me. Have a super day. 🙂 xo
Goodness look how much of that field the plonkers have turned over already. Laura
Have a great day. Brilliant idea to try a chariot on Tane.
Do you work with Tane’s hind end much now? If not, add it to your ever growing list. But of course you know this – so just say “Gotcha” in your head … The ‘slang’ I hate is the “Got Milk?” ads….. And now with LOL, ROLF, SYL and all these text shortcuts – we are doomed as a society. (See I sound like my grandmother there…..)
I certainly will have a lovely day after reading this. ” And he has teeth and tusks as back up.” made me laugh out loud. We have so many rules about how life should be. I wonder what your mother would be saying to you these days? 🙂
That is a briliant idea..Tane with. A cart..if you need some money we will all ada bit. Extra
Well, it might be a costly business – i am doing the research first! c
My sons once thought if they built a cart, our husky would pull it so they could deliver papers. A lot of planning and work went into their design. On the day they tried it out, the husky sat down between the poles and refused to budge! Nobody consulted the dog. It is now a padded bench for weight lifting. Maybe they needed a bigger carrot?
So funny! and yes this is my fear – that i spend all the money and he is terrified of it.. c
Could Tima scent it before Tane discovers it?
It feels odd to be sitting here by myself chuckling, then outright laughing. My dear in the other room calls out, “Are you OK?” And I don’t know if I can tell her. You have to be here.
I do the two-finger tap too. Often just a pointy finger soft-push, and even then my little tablet keys misjudge my intentions, or try to correct them for me.
I hate it when it corrects me – it takes ages to convince the phone that YES I do intend to say that and YES this is how I spell it – drives me nuts! c
Oh, you brought back echoes of my mother…. some of the attitudes were different (ballet makes you stand up straight and improves your posture), but I hear the same firm opinions echoing in my head, and now, with time, I’m nodding agreement! I’m lucky, I got to study the arts and THEN learn typing as a backup, so 30+ years on my 10 fingers still fly and I still don’t need to look at them as I type. I hope Tane embraces the wheelchariot with gusto.
Yes But I am not nodding in agreement with her – I should have done ballet and learnt typing and jandals are so comfy on a summers day! c
Of course, but I think *some* of the things Ma had to say make sense to me now.
I suspect we all eventually morph into versions of our own mothers 😏
God I hope not!! c
It’s a worry for me too 😯
loved your article. We were brought up that way: always pronounce your ings, napkin on your lap, no swearing, never say shut up ay hush up. My twin at age 17 said “shit” and my father said to me, “Esther, Elizabeth uttered a swear word. Does she know what that means:?” I don’t remember my response, but i laughed to myself because was the queen of 50s swearing, never the “f” word but “arse” (i pronounced the broad a then, as in arse was a popular one. You are such a lovely writer C. high regards, e
I LOVE that chain link of things you were not allowed to do. So very funny. Odd bird your mother…that interpretation of ballet is unlike any I have ever heard. She seems a character right up there with the REAL Mary Poppins. I bet your mother would have hated all these all these unnecessary capital letters I’m throwing about. I don’t much like them myself, but one has to try something to add some intonation and fun to these digital conversations. No? Dear Tane. What a pig. (My mother, ex-English professor, was a stickler as well, but she believed mightily in typing and taught me to type by sight when I was 8. Her pet peeve was t-shirts with anything written on them. “You don’t want to be an advertisement for anyone!” she used to say.) x
I use capitals too – otherwise someone may emphasise the wrong word and the sentence will change completely!
Gotcha! 😆Your reminiscences of your mother are fabulous. I often look in the mirror now and see my mother and grandmothers and wonder how much else of their characters is me. When I was younger I had a few ideas of what was proper. I didn’t wear thongs-jandals or joggers-runners. I now consider things from a practical rather than proper perspective… really they are buying and eating that horrible sugary supermarket [fill in blank], are wasting money on [fill in blank] ? And so have become my own version of a pernickety nanna. But I figure modern speech & grammar is simply of its time and much of it quite convenient while doing no harm at all.
I hope there is a solution so Tane gets his wheels 🐽
Am roaring with laughter reading about your Mom ’cause I had one of ‘them’ also and older than yours 🙂 ! Oddly enough ballet was encouraged as most ‘lady-like’ pursuit and I was ‘stuck’ into a bra before I needed one for the sake of ‘decency’, but as far as manners, language, makeup et al were concerned oh please, do not let me remember! Would you believe at my age I will still curtsey on occasion with absolutely no problems: habit and respect . . .Boys: well there had been quite a few marriage proposals ere my parents even realized that could be a possible eventuality!!! Having worked oft solely with guys all my life I am afraid ‘language’ may at times be a problem these days . . . . there are certain words I utter without thought and others which would not pass my lips . . .
I will say anything–thanks to having no kids to be “role models” for. Very freeing!
Your tenacity in finding help for Tane is outstanding! I love Tane!
I don’t know anyone that liked a bra.I always thought they were the most gawdawful contraptions. I quit wearing them more than a decade ago. Best decision ever. And so many of the rules and expectations I grew up with I discarded long ago. What ever works and makes life easier or more pleasant is good! I’m excited about Tane’s wheels!
Gotcha lovely.. my dear parents weren’t big on slang either .. it was always yes 😄 I think that chair for Tane sounds wonderful