return the favor | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)To do something for someone similar to what they did for you.2006, David Schmidtz,The Elements of Justice, Cambridge University Press,→ISBN,page83:Having received an unearned windfall, we are in debt. The moral scales are out of balance. The canonical way to restore a measure of balance is toreturn the favorto our benefactor, as per symmetrical reciprocity. However, the canonical way is not the only way. Another way is to pass the favor on, as per transitive reciprocity.2010, Scott M. James,An Introduction to Evolutionary Ethics, John Wiley & Sons,→ISBN,page140:Let's say Gertrude shared some of her food with you. This recognition in turn triggers a judgment that you ought toreturn the favor– that is, you ought to share some of your food with Gertrude when the opportunity arises.

Examples:

EN: We would like to return the favor.
ES: Nos gustaría devolverle el favor.
EN: I'll return the favor someday.
ES: - Algún día te devolveré el favor.
EN: Not so kind, really. Maybe you'll return the favor.
ES: - No tanto y te lo cobraré.
EN: Yes, I'm going to return the favor and do a little modeling for you.
ES: Sí, voy a devolverte el favor y hacerte de modelo.
EN: Thanks Lieutenant. We'll return the favor someday.
ES: Le devolveremos el favor algún día.
EN: Obviously, if you were successful in your assignment, I'll be in no position to return the favor.
ES: Está claro que si haces bien este trabajo, no podré devolverte el favor.
EN: He was very kind to us, so we must return the favor.
ES: Como fue muy amable con nosotros, habrá que devolverle el favor.
EN: Well, maybe I can return the favor someday.
ES: Quizá podré corresponderle el favor un día.
EN: Glad we could return the favor.
ES: - Un placer devolveros el favor.
EN: Ok, let me return the favor now!
ES: ¿Eso creía? Se lo devuelvo enseguida.
EN: Well, maybe now that I'm back, Claude will return the favor.
ES: Quizá ahora que volví, Claude me devolverá el favor.
EN: If you ask me, it's high time you return the favor.
ES: Para mí, ya es hora de que se les devuelva el favor.
EN: We'll return the favor by giving a free show at the fort.
ES: Se lo pagaremos con un espectaculo en el fuerte.
EN: If I can return the favor...
ES: Si ahora lo necesitas...
EN: Oh, I don't think I'll return the favor.
ES: Creo que no la resistiría, Pedro.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).