quid pro quo

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Quid pro quo ("what for what" in Latin^[1]) most often means a more-or-less equal exchange or substitution of goods or services. English speakers often use the term to mean "a favour for a favour" and the phrases with almost identical meaning include: "give and take", "tit for tat", "this for that", and "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours". Other meanings are given later in this article.

Legal usage

In legal usage, quid pro quo indicates that an item or a service has been traded in return for something of value, usually when the propriety or equity of the transaction is in question. For example, under the common law, a binding contract must involve consideration: that is, the exchange of something of value for something else of economic value. If the exchange appears excessively one sided, courts in some jurisdictions may question whether a quid pro quo did actually exist and the contract may be void by law.^[2]

Similarly, political donors are legally entitled to support candidates that hold positions with which the donors agree, or which will benefit the donors. Such conduct becomes bribery only when there is an identifiable exchange between the contribution and official acts, previous or subsequent, and the term quid pro quo denotes such an exchange. The term may also be used to describe blackmail, where a person offers to refrain from some harmful conduct in return for valuable consideration.

Quid pro quo harassment occurs when employment or academic decisions or expectations (hiring, promotions, salary increases, shift or work assignments, performance standards, grades, access to recommendations, assistance with school work, etc.) are based on an employee or student's submission to or rejection of sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other behaviour of a sexual nature. These cases involve tangible actions that adversely affect either the conditions of work or academic progress.

Other meanings

• Quid pro quo may sometimes be used to define a misunderstanding or blunder made by the substituting of one thing for another, particularly in the context of the transcribing of a text.^[3] In this alternate context, the phrase qui pro quo is more correct (see below).
• Quid Pro Quo was an Internet server package for Classic MacOS.
• Quid Pro Quo is also the latest album released by the guitarist Brett Garsed

Related phrases

The phrase qui pro quo, or quiproquo (from medieval Latin: literally "qui instead of quo"), is common in languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French, where it means a misunderstanding.^[4][5] In those languages, the phrase corresponding to the usage of quid pro quo in English is do ut des (Latin for "I give so that you may give").

See also

Look up quid pro quo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• An eye for an eye
• Barter
• List of Latin phrases
• Offset agreement
• Pay to Play
• Tit for Tat

Notes