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Could you help me to recover full version of the following dialog:

— Nice to meet you.

— Me too.

If I am correct, the first sentence in its full version is:

— It is/was nice to meet you.

What is full version of the second sentence?

ColleenV
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Denis Kulagin
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  • The full version is "ditto". About the meeting having been "nice". – TimR Mar 16 '16 at 10:14
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    Rather than "me too" which sounds like an odd response to that statement, I would, if I were cutting it down to that extent, say "you too" as a short version of "It was nice to meet you too." – John Clifford Mar 16 '16 at 10:44
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    Yes, but we have to remember language is about communication and not logic (some languages use double negatives, standard English usually doesn't); so while me too seems to me to be an illogical response, it is being used more and more these days to mean same here, likewise or I feel the same, whether I like that usage or not ;) @JohnClifford, Denis, and others. – Alan Carmack Mar 16 '16 at 11:25
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    @Wyatt It's absolutely fine for language to fly off into cloud-cuckoo land, but I won't be taking off with it. ;) I will fight to the death for my belief that "me too" is a terrible way to say "same here". – John Clifford Mar 16 '16 at 11:27
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    @JohnClifford me too (I really can't stand this illogical use of me too (illogical, because I didn't just meet myself); it bothers me when I hear it in movies and stuff, but oh well...) – Alan Carmack Mar 16 '16 at 11:30
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    "Me too" allegedly got Yoshiro Mori into a lot of trouble... see the last item in the "gaffes" section of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshir%C5%8D_Mori – JavaLatte Mar 16 '16 at 14:37
  • "Me too" generally implies "me (in addition)". I prefer "For me as well" which does not connote expansion of the original phrase. – Steve H. Mar 16 '16 at 15:33
  • "Me too, but about you": https://vid.me/pUx/me-too-but-about-you-from-cloudy-with-a-chance-o (not seriously, it's a funny movie) – Phil Frost Mar 16 '16 at 18:38
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    @Wyatt Even informally I've never heard someone respond to "nice to meet you" that way. It's not just illogical, it's impolite, because it sounds like you're complimenting yourself (as per your own reading of "it was nice to meet myself too" in your answer, which I believe is how nearly all native speakers would interpret it). Have you actually heard this in "movies and stuff"? – Kyle Strand Mar 16 '16 at 21:57
  • Yes @KyleStrand I've heard it in recent Hollywood movies. I flinch when I do. I've also heard younger (twenty something) native speakers use "me too" in this way. – Alan Carmack Mar 16 '16 at 22:36

6 Answers6

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Some native speakers would consider the response me too as being weird, illogical or even inappropriate as a response to certain statements, including

1 Nice to meet you.

--"Me too."

To some, this response seems weird and illogical because what it means (that is the full response) is

It was nice to meet myself, too.

And so you can see why some native speakers consider me too as problematic here.

Consider also:

2 I love you.

--"Me too."

To some native speakers, the "full response" of "me too" here is

I love myself too and so we wouldn't use "me too"–although we recognize that some native speakers do.

Some native speakers might prefer same here or likewise, although these may not be any more "logical" than me too.

A good way logically speaking, is to say

I feel the same.

Which is what same here is supposed to mean in these contexts.

Alan Carmack
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  • It's a weird reply indeed, yet I still say it sometimes becuase I'm flustered. – cat Mar 17 '16 at 00:28
  • I usually respond with "it was nice to meet you too" – Cave Johnson Mar 17 '16 at 00:32
  • While it is grammatically wrong to say this, I've actually noticed that it is a fairly popular slang response that's usually understood in American English. While I agree that it should not be used thoughtlessly, because people like me consider it pompous, one is still quite likely to hear children say it (e.g. to their parents), and it also appears with some frequency in various forms of media (I actually recall one show that used it infuriatingly often: Charmed). – phyrfox Mar 17 '16 at 02:31
  • As one of native speakers referred to, I would not find a me too response illogical at all. Logic has little to do sentence meaning, as we do not extract meaning by looking at logic. Instead, we look for the most relevant meaning (Sperber and Wilson Relevance Theory). For example, "I am going to the bank" uttered by a guy rowing a boat has a different meaning to the same utterance coming from a guy standing at the door with an ATM card in hand. In the same way, a me too response will be interpreted as "nice for me to meet you too" as it is the most relevant meaning. – Roaring Fish Jul 21 '16 at 02:58
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Using "Me too." as a reply (or in a succeeding statement) indicates (in general) that the reply (or the succeeding statement) has the same meaning (or intent) with the preceding statement.

Considering this, the complete response is: "(It's) nice to meet you too."

Examples:

A: I had a wonderful evening.

B: Me too. (I had a wonderful evening too.)

and,

A (talking to a waiter/barista): I'd like a shot of vodka.

B (to waiter/barista): Me too. (I'd like a shot of vodka too.)

shin
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3

Basically, the second sentence means

Nice to meet you too.

"Me too" can be thought of as saying "I feel the same way as you do", which is the same as what I wrote up there. Another possible reply to "Nice to meet you" is "And the same to you", which is a bit more formal I guess but it might make things a bit clearer.

ginsengpills
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    This is just incorrect. "Me too" doesn't expand to "Nice to meet you too", the correct shortening would be "You too". It may be common in some areas, but it is incorrect and shouldn't be encouraged for English learners. – Kevin Mar 16 '16 at 15:37
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It is a reply the full version of the second sentence is:

For me too it is/was nice to meet you.

Kirti
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2

Me too does usually mean that they felt the same way, but it's very divided and even though people understand that's the meaning, they will joke and say "You liked meeting yourself, too?" to tease you, since it's more commonly used as a response to something like "I enjoyed that."

All of these other answers are great but I'd like to add that you can consider you too as a shorthand response to "It was nice to meet you, too."

In the context of love ("I love you") this wouldn't fit since some people have hangups about a short response as it would be considered distant or aloof but if someone were to say "It was nice to meet you" the response "You too" would be socially acceptable.

The Anathema
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Why is the reply not in the nominative, I?

It was nice for me

(for) me too

What is being dropped in the first statement is the referential "for me", since "nice" expresses a feeling experienced, not a separate existential reality. There is also no dummy "it", simply an expression of the experiential "nice".

TimR
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