# dido etymology **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dido-etymology/68309 "2001-06-10T15:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dido-etymology/68309/1 "2001-06-10T15:15:01Z")
Where does dido come from? Dido with a short i, with a definition of “the same thing”. Like if someone asked you want to you want and you told them an answer, and then the next person is asked and says “Dido” meaning that they want what you got. I tried to look this up in the dictionary but it wasn’t there. So what is the origin of “dido”? ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dido-etymology/68309/2 "2001-06-10T15:21:04Z")
**Ditto** means the same thing, **dido** means a prank, **Dido** is a band or “a legendary queen of Carthage in Virgil’s Aeneid who kills herself when Aeneas leaves her.” > **[Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/)** > > The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation. #wordsmatter ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dido-etymology/68309/3 "2001-06-10T17:42:13Z")
The origin, from the Merriam-Webster link above, is > [@](#): > > **Italian _ditto, detto_, past participle of _dire_ to say, from Latin _dicere_**