英语词汇tit for tat的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

tit for tat. Probably the French phrase tant pour tant, “so much for so much,” influenced the formation of tit for tat, and possibly the Dutch dit vor dat, “this for that,” helped as well. But the ex- pression derives directly from the six-century-old English phrase tip for tap, a “tip” at the time meaning the same as a “tap”—a light blow. As for the idea of tit for tat, a blow for a blow, the Latin quid pro quo itself has been around for over four centuries. The French phrase tant pour tant, with its sense of paying back, also gave us our word taunt, “a sharp or clever rejoinder.”

词汇	tit for tat
词源	tit for tat. Probably the French phrase tant pour tant, “so much for so much,” influenced the formation of tit for tat, and possibly the Dutch dit vor dat, “this for that,” helped as well. But the ex- pression derives directly from the six-century-old English phrase tip for tap, a “tip” at the time meaning the same as a “tap”—a light blow. As for the idea of tit for tat, a blow for a blow, the Latin quid pro quo itself has been around for over four centuries. The French phrase tant pour tant, with its sense of paying back, also gave us our word taunt, “a sharp or clever rejoinder.”
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