English trivia

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Whilst looking up the word "tidbit" to see if it was hyphenated or not, I discovered that "tidbit" is the U.S. version of the British word "titbit", something I was unaware of until now. Makes ya wonder how/why/when that change happened in the U.S. or how the British version of the word came about. *ahem* Very Happy

Any answers from our linguists out there?

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The etymology of either is uncertain and anyone who gives you an answer will be relaying a guess.

My guess is that it's a natural corruption of t/d.

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Yes, Caprice. Craven is right. Encarta even said perhaps. Origin might be from 17the Century English, "tender"

Then there is the tit, a bird.

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T and D are very closely related sounds, like P and B, or K and G, or R and L. These pairs switching places with each other is actually quite common and linguistically natural.

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Interesting. Smile

I still think it's funny though. Very Happy

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English trivia

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