ditto

Pluraldittos (some meanings), dittoes (some meanings)

Formsdittos, dittoing, dittoed

1. 1
   alsoadverb

   In the same manner as stated before; likewise.

   The older models were discontinued, and ditto the spare parts that fit them.

   The pasta was cold when it finally arrived, and ditto the soup.

   UsagePut ditto before the noun it covers: and ditto the soup. It suits brisk writing, often after a semicolon.

   Similarlikewise, similarly

   Note

   A one-word clause: the adverb takes the noun phrase that follows and declares that the same applies, with no verb needed. The Economist writes "ditto the impact on the tumbling bolivar," and David Hytner (2022) opens a sentence with "Ditto many members of staff." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Economist uses the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
   • David Hytner used this complete sentence in a 2022 article. theguardian.com
2. 2
   me toointerjection

   Used to express agreement with what someone has said, or to indicate that it applies equally to the person being addressed.

   When she said she was exhausted after the trip, he sighed and answered, "Ditto."

   I couldn't have put it better myself, so ditto on every word you wrote.

   UsageWorks as a whole reply, like me too; also ditto on what someone said.

   Similarsame, agreed

   Note

   The most conversational life of the word: a complete reply in itself. It can mean "me too" or "the same goes for you," so context decides which. Lewis Carroll (1871) gives it to Tweedledum, and Tweedledee doubles it, "Ditto, ditto!" Doubling it adds emphasis, or a touch of comedy. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Carroll assigns the single-word reply to Tweedledum. en.wikisource.org
   • Tweedledee follows with the exact doubled reply quoted. en.wikisource.org
3. 3
   earlier entrynoununcountable

   That which was stated before; the same item already mentioned, taken as repeated.

   In the old ledger, the clerk wrote the town name once and then ditto on every line below it.

   Rather than copy the same price on every row of the invoice, he wrote it once and put ditto underneath.

   Note

   It allows a playful economy: Letitia Landon's "brick-red walls and ditto curtains" (1831) lets one word carry the color, and Dickens could even pluralize it as "smaller dittos." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Romance and Reality was published in 1831. archive.org
   • Landon's narrator uses the exact phrase brick-red walls and ditto curtains; ditto repeats the color. archive.org
   • Charles Dickens uses smaller dittos in the narration of The Pickwick Papers. gutenberg.org
4. 4
   say the sameverbtransitive

   To repeat what was said or done before.

   When my coworker said the meeting ran too long, I just dittoed her and laughed.

   We ditto every point you just made.

   UsageForms are dittos, dittoing, dittoed. In talk, I ditto that means you agree completely.

   Similarecho, ape

   Note

   Repetition that often shades into uncritical imitation, which is why ape and echo sit close to it. K. K. N. Kurup's Agrarian Struggles in Kerala (1989) describes a minister who "dittoed every action" of corrupt officials, meaning he endorsed them rather than checked them. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • K. K. N. Kurup wrote Agrarian Struggles in Kerala, first published in 1989. openlibrary.org
   • The cited passage describes Prakasam, the Prime Minister, as having dittoed every action of corrupt officials and police rather than checking them. Kurup attributes this assessment to the Communists. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   symbolnouncountable

   A mark written as two apostrophes or quotation marks (〃), showing that the item directly above is to be repeated.

   Rather than copy the price again, the clerk drew a ditto under each identical entry.

   A column of dittos ran down the page wherever the surname stayed the same.

   Note

   Ledgers and price lists are where the mark works hardest. It stands beneath each figure or word to be repeated, so a column can run on without copying. On paper the same job can be done by an abbreviation of the word itself, do., now dated. Rarely, it appears as do without the point, which is easily misread as the verb. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Ditto marks beneath words or figures indicate that those entries are repeated. en.wikipedia.org
   • The abbreviation do. can substitute for a ditto mark. en.wikipedia.org
   • The abbreviation also occurs without a full stop. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   machine copynouncolloquialUScountable

   A copy of a document made on a spirit duplicator (ditto machine), especially a classroom worksheet handed out to students.

   Our teacher handed out a math ditto every Friday, and the purple pages still smelled of the copier.

   The office archives held dittos of correspondence that predated the photocopier.

   Similarcopy, duplicate

   Note

   A brand name turned common noun: the Ditto machine was a spirit duplicator, and in American informal speech its product took its name. Purple ink was its signature. In Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (2019), a teacher gives each student "a ditto of a black-and-white cow." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The paper-copy meaning derives from the Ditto machine brand name. en.wiktionary.org
   • Ditto machines were spirit duplicators. cameo.mfa.org
   • Purple was the characteristic printing color. psap.library.illinois.edu
   • Ocean Vuong wrote On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, first published in 2019. penguinrandomhouse.com
   • The novel describes a teacher giving each student a ditto, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org

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