Re: You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
Posted by ESC on October 13, 2000
In Reply to: You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours posted by Daniel Dainty on October 12, 2000
: I am 9 years old and for my homework I need to find the meaning and origin of You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Please help. Thank you.
: Daniel D.
It's a political thing - politicians match each other "favor for favor." I do you a favor, and you owe me a favor.
YOU SCRATCH MY BACK, I'LL SCRATCH YOURS - "A favor should be reciprocated: you do a favor for me, and I'll do one for you. The proverb has been traced back to Montaigne (1605), and is first attested in the United States in 'Artemus Ward, His Book' (1865) by Artemus Ward, the pen name of Charles Farrar Browne (1834-76)." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
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