nonelvis: (DW blue TARDIS)
nonelvis ([personal profile] nonelvis) wrote2009-02-01 05:03 pm

(no subject)

In the process of reading through my unfinished (it's close, I swear!) Handy/alt!Ace, [livejournal.com profile] platypus informed me that common British usage for the word "tidbit" is in fact "titbit."

I think I must feel the same way about "titbit" that the British folks feel about "fanny pack."

TITBITS. It's never going to stop being funny.

(BTW, if any of said British folk want to step in and correct or confirm this usage, please feel free.)

[identity profile] jagpatel.livejournal.com 2009-02-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I can neither confirm nor deny the usage, but somehow this makes "it's a titbit nipply" more appropriate, and I'm using it from now on.

p.s. Antony says Stephen Fry says puritanical Americans changed 'titbit' to 'tidbit'.

[identity profile] columbina.livejournal.com 2009-02-02 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Aaaaaaactually ...

I'm pretty sure the word comes from "tidbid" for a little something to eat, which is Scandinavian but I'm not sure which nation - Swedish? Danish? Anyway, I believe the British usage came from there, along with their mutation. Any theories about the prevalence of mammary-based usage in the British vernacular (e.g. "well, that went tits-up in a hurry,") are left to the amateur psychologists in the audience.

[identity profile] profrobert.livejournal.com 2009-02-01 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
My Scouse wife says "titbit" is correct.

Reminds me of the time I took an Australian friend to her first baseball game and told her if we got there early, we could watch the players shag flies during batting practice. She almost did a spit-take with her soda.

[identity profile] profrobert.livejournal.com 2009-02-02 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
Mebbe, but how much tighter than fly pussy can you get? (There's probably also a fruit fly joke in there, too, but I'll leave that for the reader to complete for him/herself.)

[identity profile] kalleah.livejournal.com 2009-02-02 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
I triple dog dare you to write a story about Rose's breasts using the word "titbits."
platypus: (Default)

[personal profile] platypus 2009-02-04 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
I saw 'titbit' in the wild on DWF today. Yep, still funny.