[Danr55]

Carnut.. To answer your questions:

1. Gotchas come in many colors. Chebby orange and purple just happen to be a favorites of the ill-informed or desperate.
2. One does not "get" gotchas unless they are thrown at you in which case you are a "gotcha'd" rather than a "gotcha'r". Gotcha's are created by the Gotcha'r and distributed at will. In order to be a true Gotcha, there must be agreement that a gotcha has been delivered by at least one person not associated as the gotcha'd or gotcha'r.
3. Both. Gotchas don't cost money, but frequently the price in personal pride and esteem is high. More than likely, the price is a mere whimper or expletive remark on the part of the gotcha'd.
4. Gotchas are not availabe on request. They must be earned.
5. Gotchas are not created to be redeemed but to be outdone. The objective is to issues gotchas back and forth between opponents until one or the other cannot formulate a suitable reply or simply tires of the game and declares the opponent the winner. More frequently, the art of "laying in wait" to snipe at an opponent is the practice. The description of this art would take volumes to describe.
6. As mentioned above, gotchas can be held for months or years until the opportunity comes about to respond. The art of the "HELD" gotcha is almost nonexistant among the younger generations today as they have little patients for the time honored practice of the silent stalk. They all seem to be more interested in instant gratification.
7. Gotchas are not only legal, but necessary in order to be assigned the high office of "Master Gotcha'r". This is a title held by few and reveered by fewer as few people understand the true art of the Gotcha. No one in the history of the world has achieved this level of proficiency before the attainment of the age of 55 years.
8. This question is ambiguous as Gotchas can be gotten in the two aforementioned forms. Either as a "gotcha'd" or as a "gotcha'r". Niether are planned, but are reactive to the situation at hand. You may either receive or administer a Gotcha as a reaction to a situation that you or someone else creates, but must be a true creation of the sitation at hand and must be created instantaniously.

I hope this will provide some background on the Gotcha. If you need to know more, keep posting and you will eventually either find the internal motivation to issue a gotcha or say something or ask something stupid enough to receive a gotcha.