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Steve Taylore-Knowles

March 23, 2015 10:00

Word Stories: ta

Steve Taylore-Knowles looks at the stories behind the English language.

Bill Batziakas, Athenian teacher, writes: ‘I would like to be informed about 'ta ta' (which is used instead of 'goodbye'). Webster's Third New International Dictionary says that it is the baby word for 'thanks'. But then, why is it used by old people, too? ... I'm sure you'll come up with an answer.’

Such confidence is touching, and I can shed a little light on the confusion, although not much in terms of etymology. There are actually two different words: ta and ta-ta. Ta is, as Bill says, the baby word for ‘thanks’. You might hear a parent saying it to a young child as the parent hands the child something, which I’ve always thought must be a little confusing. Still, they seem to learn it, and then give the parents something to complain about by refusing to use it for the next eighteen years. Ta also enjoys an existence in colloquial adult speech with the same meaning, often followed by a friendly appellation such as mate or love.

Why certain words should become the accepted baby words for something is quite complicated and baby (and mother) talk has been studied in some detail. It often involves exaggerated intonation on the part of the teaching adult, and that’s common with ta. Perhaps small children find it easier to form the alveolar plosive t- than the unvoiced dental fricative th-.

Ta-ta is also baby talk, but for ‘goodbye’. Again, this has some life in adult speech, often with a slightly humorous feel – the kind of use of language that is labelled ‘jocular’ in dictionaries. In fact, a BBC radio programme in the 1940s called ITMA (pronounced ‘it-mah’, the letters standing for ‘It’s That Man Again’) popularised the phrase TTFN (‘ta-ta for now’) as a humorous way of saying goodbye.

In the north of England, you will certainly hear the form ta-ra, which is the standard informal word for goodbye in certain areas. And as part of baby talk, you might hear the expression ‘go ta-tas’ meaning ‘go for a walk or short trip’.

TTFN.

If there are any aspects of English words you've always wondered about, drop me a line at [email protected] and I'll see if I can come up with an answer.

Тема: Grammar & Vocabulary       Теги: Wordstory, Etymology

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