tit for tat



tit for tat

Repayment in kind, retaliation, as in If he won't help with the beach clean-up, I won't run a booth at the bake sale; that's tit for tat . This term is believed to be a corruption of tip for tap, which meant "a blow for a blow." Its current form dates from the mid-1500s.
See also: tat, tit

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Sveinn-Ancient Scandinavian
CillaSIL-lah (Swedish), SI-lah (Dutch)Swedish, Dutch
Angelita-Spanish
Shulamith-Hebrew
PieraPYE-rahItalian
Reynaldo-Spanish, Portuguese