The etymological origin of this term that we are now dealing with is found in Latin, idem, and which we have maintained in Spanish in the same way. It can be translated as “the same” or even as “oneself”.
Idem is a pronoun , also used as an adverb, that refers to the same thing . When someone uses this concept, they are referring to something identical or equivalent to what they have already expressed .
Let's suppose that a newspaper article is entitled “Small books for smaller readers” . The article in question is about children's books that are published in a small format. The expression “Small books for smaller readers” , therefore, refers to the fact that both the books and the readers are small : in size in the case of printed copies and in age (and, by extension, also in height ) in the case of the children who read them.
“A controversial case that had an identical resolution” is another example of the use of this term. A journalist chose to headline a story in this way, where he tells of a 30-year-old teacher who had a romantic relationship with a 16-year-old student, who became pregnant. The relationship can be described as controversial due to the age difference, the fact that the teenager is a minor, and the teacher’s position of authority over the student. However, the case went to court and a court found that there was no abuse: that is why for many people the ruling was controversial. Hence, the case is controversial and its resolution, idem (that is, also controversial).
The idea of ditto can even appear in spoken language. A man sees two children falling off a bicycle and approaches them. “How are you?” he asks one. “Fine, I’m not hurt,” the boy replies. “And how are you?” he asks the second child, who replies, “Ditto.”
In the cinema we find different films that have made this term a fundamental pillar. A good example of this is the film “Ghost”, released in 1990 and which featured actors of the stature of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Ghoopi Goldberg.
It tells the story of a businessman who is murdered by someone very close to him. In order to protect his girlfriend from the dangers that this criminal may pose, he does not hesitate to turn to a medium to give her this information.
In this feature film, the word idem is key. The murdered man always used it when his partner told him “I love you” and thanks to it, his girlfriend believes the aforementioned medium when she tells her that the ghost of the deceased wants to tell her something important.
Similarly, we cannot ignore the fact that “Idem” is the title of a novel written by Myriam Ojeda and published in 2017. It stars Nadia, a woman who works at the Millenium publishing house and who will see her life take a radical change when she receives Mr. Moorea’s manuscript from the writer Jaqueline Amorós.