tell you what

== English == === Etymology === Ellipsis of I'll tell you what or I tell you what. The sense introducing an arrangement also corresponds to another, longer established collocation of I'll tell you what I'm gonna do or let me tell you what I'm gonna do. === Phrase === tell you what (colloquial) Introduces a compromise or arrangement where the interlocutor has some benefit or advantage. (colloquial) Synonym of I can tell you. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “tell you what”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. “I tell you what”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present. “tell you what” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.