HSS
Senior Member
Who would? It isn't used in Britain as far as I am aware, and I don't think I've heard it in US films or television programs.
I should have mentioned it's a U.S. regionalism. To my ear, it's been around for rather quite some time now. Many of my A.E. speaking friends use it, in conversation, that is. It may have not sailed across the Big Pond to the U.K.
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The phrase is "Right back atcha!", where the "atcha" part is a casual pronunciation of "at you".
It sounds like a TV character's catch-phrase. my guess is that someone said it on TV, and a lot of TV watchers liked the phrase and started saying it. Since then, it has spread to parts of the US (and South Africa, according to theFreeDictionary).
Literally it means "You sent that message to me. I am sending that message right back at you."
I don't think it is used where I've lived. I've never said it. But I've heard it many times.
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HSS
Senior Member
One more thought.
This phrase was probably first said on TV by Fonzie (the Fonze) on Happy Days. "Happy Days" was a popular TV series from 1974-1984, and this phrase sounds like something Fonzie would say.
I would often watch that sitcom every day, after I came back from school, in the Midwest in 1980 to 1981. Yes, the Fonzie, Henry F. Winkler, in his well-known leather jacket said it the way you described it --- 'atcha!' So he may have started it. I didn't know that.
Would it sound natural to your ear if someone said it, with the 'atcha,' for 'Thank YOU' in response to 'Thank you'?
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