How do you use the term "ditto" when you're expressing the same sentiments,I.e. I told someone,"it was good to see you last week." They responded "ditto,seeing you too." Is this response correct?
Learn English – Ditto ,when do I use it
grammaticality
Best Answer
The OED traces "ditto" to the Italian for "spoken," meaning the aforesaid. We have the same usage in English, modifying some object in previous conversation with "said." The word "ditto" has come to mean an agreement with something someone has said.
So your friend heard your words "It was good to see you last week," and wanted to return the sentiment, so he said "Ditto" meaning "Me too. I agree with what you said." But if he were adopting your words he would be agreeing that it was good for him to see himself last week, and that's not what he meant. So he added "seeing you too," meaning "I feel the same but not literally about me, but about you."
In more formal circumstances, you will find writers adopting others' words with the phrase mutatis mutandis, Latin for "changing what needs to be changed," i.e., understanding that words need to be changed to keep the meaning sensible.