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a Roland for an Oliver. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
a Roland for an Oliver, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
a Roland for an Oliver in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From the stories of Roland and Oliver, legendary knights of equal might.
Noun
a Roland for an Oliver (plural Rolands for Olivers)
- (idiomatic) Equal measure; measure for measure; adequate response.
1825, William Hazlitt, “Mr. Malthus”, in The Spirit of the Age , London: Printed for Henry Colburn, , →OCLC:Mr. Godwin has lately attempted an answer to the Essay (thus giving Mr. Malthus a Roland for his Oliver) but we think he has judged ill in endeavouring to invalidate the principle, instead of confining himself to point out the misapplication of it.
1878, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Crabbed Age and Youth”, in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C Kegan Paul & Co., , published 1881, →OCLC, page 92:It is held to be a good taunt, and somehow or other to clinch the question logically, when an old gentleman waggles his head and says: "Ah, so I thought when I was your age." It is not thought an answer at all, if the young man retorts: "My venerable sir, so I shall most probably think when I am yours." And yet the one is as good as the other: pass for pass, tit for tat, a Roland for an Oliver.
Synonyms