Ditto: Meaning - the correct use in everyday life

By now, "Ditto" is a term that has become naturalized in everyday life and has perhaps already entered your vocabulary. But to help you know how and when to use the term correctly in conversation, we'll explain what the word means.

Ditto - what does it actually mean?

Quickly the term crosses your lips, but what does "Ditto" actually mean? We have the answers for you:

1. The origin of Dito lies in the Latin verb "dicere". Dicere stands in the Latin vocabulary for "mean" or "say".
2. The word was adapted in France, respectively, out of the Italian commercial language, whereby the term has also entered the German-speaking world.
3. In the German vocabulary, it is an adverb that is representative of a previously mentioned facts, a person or a thing.
4. With the adverb "Dito" replace terms such as "also", "the same", "just as" and "likewise".
5. You use the term when you refer to an aspect that is known to your interlocutor. For example, "I love ice cream." Here you can respond with "Ditto" if you also like ice cream. Thus you express that it is about the same facts.

Since when there is the term in German?

The term is not only recently common in the German-speaking world, but you can find evidence of Dito already in the Middle Ages. Thereby you can find "detto" in many contracts, especially in commercial registers or also in inheritance contracts. This was used to express that "what was said" was valid and known to both contracting parties.