(no subject)

[nonelvis]

In the process of reading through my unfinished (it's close, I swear!) Handy/alt!Ace, 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.)

Comments

[jagpatel.livejournal.com]

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'.

[nonelvis]

somehow this makes "it's a titbit nipply" more appropriate

::giggles maniacally::

Well, who am I to doubt Stephen Fry? That explanation makes perfect sense, really. (And I'll bet Antony learned it from QI.)

[columbina.livejournal.com]

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.