Fig.: retaliation; repayment in kind; give someone an equal treatment in return

No birthday present for me! I'm afraid it's just a tit for tat by Carol, since I forgot her birthday last month

Niente regalo per il mio compleanno! Ho paura che Carolina abbia voluto rendermi pan per focaccia, visto che il mese scorso ho dimenticato il suo compleanno

If you hit me, I'll hit you back. It's called “giving tit for tat”!

Se tu mi prendi a schiaffi, io prendo a schiaffi te. Si chiama “rendere pan per focaccia”

Paul, mad as hell with his brother, told him off very rudely, but his brother gave it right back to him so bad, that it shut him up!

Paolo, incavolato nero con il fratello, gliene ha dette di tutti i colori. Lui, però, gli ha reso pan per focaccia: ha contraccambiato per bene tutte le villanie del fratello e lo ha zittito

It's believed that the original phrase was tip for tap, which meant “a blow for a blow”, then in the 1500s it got corrupted in tit for tat