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
Hagit-Hebrew
Barbora-Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian
Mina (2)-Hinduism, Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil
Petru-Romanian, Corsican, Old Church Slavic
BarnabyBAHR-nə-beeEnglish (Archaic)
Cameron['kæmərən]