Things are getting serious when it becomes tit for tat—that is, according to the online Collins English Dictionary, when one takes revenge on another person for what they have done by doing something similar to them.
Oh yeah. Sweet revenge.
Now, that definition ties nicely to synonyms blow for blow and eye for eye, but tit for tat seems to have wandered in from another universe...
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According to several sources, including Collins, the phrase tit for tat popped up around 1550 and was (perhaps) a variation of an older expression: tip for tap. NPR/Michigan Radio has a nice little exploration of this phrase that you can either listen to or read at this link. Tip, it turns out, can mean "a light blow," so the equivalent exchange suggested by tip for tap is pretty clear.
The Phrase Finder (one of my favorite online references!) offers that tip-plus-tap appears in a 1466 book of poems written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in the line: "Strokis grete, not tippe nor tapp." But tit? and tat? Well, here's what /Michigan Radio has to say:
"Tit" comes from an old Germanic verb that could mean to strike a light blow, similar to "tip" in the expression's earlier form. The "tat" is probably just onomatopoetic. That is, it just sounds good with "tit"-- similar to "chit chat" or "flip flop."
Phrase Finder offers that John Heywood may have been the first to use tit for tat (at least, in a publication) in the parable The Spider and the Flie, 1556: "That is tit for tat in this altricacion [altercation]."
NPR/Michigan Radio adds this trivia snippet about the phrase: The game "tic tac toe" was first called "tit tat toe." (Whaaat??)
For more fascinating bits and bobs about tit for tat, be sure to check out the NPR and Phrase Finder links.
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| Tit for tat: It's all about revenge, baby. Image by Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 from Pixabay |
**** A tip o' the hat to author Dani Greer who suggested this Slang-o-rama phrase!****
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