Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Equivalentretribution; an act ofreturningexactlywhat one gets; aneye for an eye.If you hit me, I’ll hit you back;tit for tat.2006, Robert Axelrod,The evolution of cooperation,→ISBN,page13:Tit for tatis the policy of cooperating on the first move and then doing whatever the other player did on the previous move. This policy means thattit for tatwill defect once after each defection of the other player.c.1706,[Edward Ward],The Dutch Riddle: Or, A Character of a Hairy Monster, often Found in Holland, &c.,[London?]: Sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster,→OCLC,page 2:Could it but for a longer Space / Lengthen the Bliſs it let's us taſte, / Who would notdoaton't? But alas! / The Joy's too exquiſite to laſt. / Two whiteHerculeanPillars prop / The tufted Gin, the tempting Snare; / When they divide, then in we pop, / Before we well know where we are. / Then that for this, andtit for tat; / But when the pleaſing Minute's flown, / As uſeleſs it returns the Bait, / And both look fooliſh when 'tis done.c.1775,[Henry] Carey,The Honest Yorkshire-man. A Ballad Farce. As It is Acted at the Theatre-Royal, Dublin: Printed and sold by Thomas Wilkinson, in Winetavern Street, at the corner of Cook-Street;[...],→OCLC,page23:This is butTit for Tat, young Gentleman. Your Father wanted to get my Eſtate from me; and I have got the Wife he intended for you. All's fair, Sir.1864, Philip Wharton, chapter II, inHeart or Head.[...]In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Charles J. Skeet, 10,King William Street,Charing Cross,→OCLC,page59:"You'll never get her over like that. You must coax her." / "Coax the devil. Do you think I'm going to be beat by a horse?" / "It would only betit for tat; you beat her, so she has a right to beat you."1978spring,Georges Feydeau, “Hortense Said, ‘No Skin Off My Ass!’”, in Norman R. Shapiro, transl., edited by Maurice Charney,Comedy: New Perspectives(New York Literary Forum; 1), New York, N.Y.: New York Literary Forum,→ISBN,→ISSN,page307:YVETTE. I have no idea what to make Monsieur for dinner. / FOLLBRAGUET.(beside himself)Well, that's no skin off my ass, damn it! / YVETTE.(snippily, giving himtit for tat)Well, it's certainly no skin off mine, Monsieur!2014,William M. LeoGrande,Peter Kornbluh, “Clinton: From Calibrated Response to Parallel Positive Steps”, inBack Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana, Chapel Hill, N.C.:University of North Carolina Press,→ISBN,page279:As part of the planning for a new initiative on Cuba, the NSC [National Security Council] also revived the concept of "calibrated response." A new staffer was tasked to develop a list of "tit-for-tats" with Cuba—which sanctions might be lifted or softened in response to clear steps toward democracy by the[Fidel] Castroregime.2016November 14, Arjun Kharpal, “China Warns of ‘Tit for Tat’ on iPhone Sales if Trump Starts Trade War”, inNBC News[1], archived fromthe originalon8 September 2017, title:China Warns of ‘Tit for Tat’ on iPhone Sales if Trump Starts Trade War
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