The origin of this simple phrase is much disputed. One authoritative view is that it is developed from an earlier expression "tip for tap", both "tip" and "tap" referring to a light stroke of slap. The idea of retaliation is clearly conveyed by the image of delivering one blow in return for another.
But there is another theory which states that the phrase was borrowed and adapted from another language: either from the French "tant pour tant", meaning "so much for so much", or from the Dutch "dit voor dat", meaning "this for that"!
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