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We were discussing this question in the chat room, and came up with the possibility, gratias similiter, but we are not sure whether it's idiomatic. The context is this. Let's say a co-worker says to you, "Hey, you look sharp today!" You might respond, "Thanks, you too." How would you say this in Latin? What's the most idiomatic way of saying it?

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  • This depends on what the context is. Can you give an example? Gratias tibi quoque doesn't mean "thanks, you too", it would "thanks to you, too."
    – cmw
    Apr 19, 2017 at 17:59
  • @C.M.Weimer You're right! I removed that example and added some context. Clarior est?
    – ktm5124
    Apr 19, 2017 at 18:03

2 Answers 2

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This interaction to my ears is decidedly modern, and since most of Roman literature is not colloquial dialogue, it will be hard to find exact matches.

However, the request is very simple and overthought. The most common way to thank somebody is gratias agere. Though there are other ways, this is both common and commonplace.

If you want to say "you too!" to someone, there are two common ways: et tu (think Caesar to Brutus) and tu quoque. The thing is that "you too" is short for "you too are X" (in this case "you also look handsome!"). I don't know why you would any anything further to it, like similiter, and tibi quoque is certainly wrong, since that's dative. You're not thanking the person in addition to another, in which case gratias tibi quoque would work (i.e. "I thank you as well"). At any rate, similiter is used by Plautus once (and adsimiliter once).

To me, this is a case of just keeping it simple.

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    One caveat: "et tu" only works if the recipient of the previous compliment was the subject of the sentence. You would have to rephrase if someone said: "I enjoyed your speech"
    – brianpck
    Apr 20, 2017 at 3:33
  • @brianpck I can't see myself naturally replying to "I enjoyed your speech" with a "Thanks, you too!" It would be "Yours too" no?
    – cmw
    Apr 20, 2017 at 10:30
  • @brianpck Sorry about the spaces and punctuation. My phone is not always cooperative when I'm on StackExchange.
    – cmw
    Apr 20, 2017 at 16:33
  • brianpck: A wall-inscription in Pompeii reads: "phoenix felix et tu", lterally,, "the happy phoenix and you"; rendered in guidebooks to, "be as happy as the phoenix". I've never been happy with this. Is the Latin saying; "happy is the phoenix and you (be so) as well"? The "et tu" giving the "as well" part. Is that correct?
    – tony
    Aug 5, 2021 at 8:54
  • @tony You might get a better response if you ask that as a separate question.
    – cmw
    Aug 5, 2021 at 21:45
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I started to you et tu when someone said something nice, then I remember it consider a negative connotation over its use in Et tu, Brutus. Don't forget someone died.

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  • Welcome to the site! While I agree that it does remind many of Brutus and Caesar, the phrase is common and simple enough to be used without any reference to said events. I'd say this is similar to saying "I'll be back" in English without reference to The Terminator. But it's certainly worthwhile to be aware of the potential negative connotation.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Sep 13, 2018 at 11:51
  • Et tu, Brute? was most likely an invention of Shakespeare.
    – Anonym
    Sep 17, 2018 at 1:27

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