A phrase that made me pull my hair and grit my teeth was trying to understand the meaning of quid pro quo. I thought it was not not even an English word or proper use of formal English.
This is what I found out when I looked up the word in an Internet dictionary: Quid pro quo is a favor or advantage granted in return for something. For example: “The pardon was a quid pro quo for their help in releasing hostages.”
English speakers often use the term to mean “a favor for a favor”—you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Another similar meaning is a more or less equal exchange for substitutions of goods or services. Give and take, tit for tat, this for that. The phrase was borrowed from Latin which means “this for that”.
Next time you bump into this peculiar expression there’s no reason to get angry—you already know what it means. Lingua Franca is a quid pro quo for your continued comments and support of my daily blog posts. Thank you and Good Day.
