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Archiver > ABOUT-WORDS > 2004-04 > 1080917617


From: Lee Quinn <>
Subject: [ABOUT WORDS] titbits - Titch
Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2004 09:53:37 -0500
References: <5.1.1.6.2.20040401132441.00a21700@pop.netcarrier.net>
In-Reply-To: <002301c418cc$09aa0970$aff0a1cd@preferred>


Gordon:

Titch is not listed in my dictionary. However, Where does the name Titch
come from?
Originally people were nicknamed Tichborne if they were fat because of
aphoney Lord Tichborne, who grew fatter and fatter while trying to prove
hisright to the name in court.
A famous Scottish music hall comedian was both fat and little as a
child,so he was nicknamed Little Tichborne. He got thinner and thinner, but
didn't grow at all, and after that all small people were called Tich or Titch.
Chris Tichborne, whose ancestor Lord Tichborne went missing in
Australia resulting in the second longest court case in history.
http://www.titch.net/front.htm
=======================================
Tidy Titch by Pat Hutchins (Author)
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-- Hutchins has a knack for turning incidents of everyday
childhood into enjoyable stories. In this case, it's messy rooms and
hand-me-downs. Introduced in Titch (Macmillan, 1971) and You'll Soon Grow
into Them, Titch (Greenwillow, 1983), the beguiling preschooler is back
along with his older brother and sister. Their mother praises young Titch
for his neat room and asks Peter and Mary to clean up their untidy ones.
Mary decides to throw out a dollhouse she's too old for. "I'm not," pipes
up Titch, "I'll have it." Peter is discarding a space suit and cowboy
outfit he has outgrown. "They're not too small for me . . . I'll have
them," says Titch as he gathers more and more of the cast-offs. By story's
end, the siblings have neatened their rooms to their mother's delight,
while Titch is happily at play in a now-cluttered room full of newfound
objects. Hutchins's bright pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings, clear large
typeface, and clean pages will appeal to children as a story-hour selection
or a read-aloud. Or perhaps just to peruse one child's junk, which so
happily becomes another's treasure. --Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688136486/103-8817607-1180619?v=glance#product-details
============================================
Created by acclaimed children's writer Pat Hutchins, Titch has already made
it big in the world of publishing. Titch now finds himself with his own
animation series. Titch is the smallest in the family. He has a big sister,
Mary and an even bigger brother, Peter and everything they have seems
bigger and better than the things Titch has. Titch tries to do everything
the big people do but, as his faithful cat, Tailcoat finds out, his help
can sometimes cause chaos. Interesting jobs like helping mum make biscuits
and making spaceships out of cardboard with his brother and sister can
easily turn into a mini disaster when Titch is involved!
http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/kidstv/shows/prog171.htm
==============================================

It is obvious that the character Titch is a popular character in Australia.

GrampsQ

=========================================================================
At 09:01 AM 4/2/04 -0700, "Gordon Barlow" <> wrote:
>GrampsQ. What does your dictionary say about "titch" meaning small? I can
>see "titbit" deriving from "titchbit", and I do see the semantic connection
>with feasts; but "tide" generally simply meant "time" - e.g. eventide -
>rather than "feast". "Tidbit" still looks a bit forced, to me.
>
>Gordon
>
> >
> > Titbit and tidbit do not seem to evolve from the same root.
> >
> > GrampsQ
> > ============
> > tid·bit, n.
> > 1. a delicate bit or morsel of food.
> > 2. a choice or pleasing bit of anything, as news or gossip.
> > Also, esp. Brit., titbit.
> > [1630-40; TIDE1 (in sense "feast day') + BIT2]
> >
>
>
>==============================
>Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration
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