Last week I asked if members here said either Tig or Tag when playing chasing games in their youth and discovered that people all over the world used Tag except those with a link to south Scotland/Yorkshire who said Tig
This time it’s not exactly the same thing but I’m interested in who uses the word titbits as oppoed to tidbits. I didn’t even know that there were 2 different names until my g/f asked me if I wanted any (‘tidbits’ that is!).
Merriam-Webster online says :
Main Entry: tid·bit
Etymology: perhaps from tit- (as in titmouse) + bit
1 : a choice morsel of food
But tit-bit in the same dictionary gives me :
Main Entry: tit·bit
variant of TIDBIT
So am I alone in my titbit requests?
I recently read Bill Bryson’s book about the history of English, and in it he said that the original English term was ‘titbits’, but that this was changed to ‘tidbits’ by the Americans at a time when rude words were to be avoided.
The OED gives a first cite for “tidbit” as 1640; first for “titbit” was 1694. It’s etymology section indicates that “tidbit” was first. “Tid” seems to have mean “delicate.” Most likely “titbit” was created by folk etymology, changing “tid” to the more familiar “tit,” meaning “small.”
The source of the quotes are all British, so the idea of Americans corrupting it is unlikely (especially when you consider the dates of first use).
Re: Bill Bryson, I love his books, and I’ve read the one Wanderers mentions, but he is not the most thorough researcher. His books, especially the ones on language, contain several errors, so I wouldn’t take his “tidbit” of information as gospel.
People of a certain age from the UK would remember a wonderful magazine called Titbits. This closed in 1984 after almost 100 years of publication. As its name suggested it published varied articles of a light hearted nature and was very popular at one time.
fearing all we men will go into uncontrollable molestations…