"You gotta be joking me" is fine to use in conversation considering the casual & informal nature of the phrase. The use of "joking" instead of "kidding" here makes the phrase sound funnier and has a more aloof, goofy tone, which is the reason it's used.
P.S. To the more die-hard prescriptive commenters in this thread... it's really strange to be so @nal about this type of colloquial speech. This is not an essay, this is not a law, this is not a scientific report; this is banter with friends. Dancing around the rules of book grammar in these types of conversations is perfectly reasonable!
You Joking Me?
"You gotta be joking me" is fine to use in conversation considering the casual & informal nature of the phrase. The use of "joking" instead of "kidding" here makes the phrase sound funnier and has a more aloof, goofy tone, which is the reason it's used.
P.S. To the more die-hard prescriptive commenters in this thread... it's really strange to be so @nal about this type of colloquial speech. This is not an essay, this is not a law, this is not a scientific report; this is banter with friends. Dancing around the rules of book grammar in these types of conversations is perfectly reasonable!