"Just a tich"
Roots
I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
examples of usage, all from Canada.
I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
under "tich" or "titch".
I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall performer
"Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
Eric The Read
Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> writes:
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
> I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
> under "tich" or "titch".
Look under "touch". I'd lay odds on "tich" or "titch" being a corruption
of "touch", having used "titch", "tetch", "touch" and other
pronunciations, depending on where I was living at the time.
-=Eric
Bun Mui
>
> "Just a tich"
>
> From: Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!>
> Reply to: [1]Roots
> Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 12:08:05 -0300
> Organization: NBTel Internet
> Newsgroups:
> [2]alt.usage.english
> Followup to: [3]newsgroup(s)
>
>I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
>I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>under "tich" or "titch".
>
>"Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
Must be a Canadian invented word. Eh? :)
But there are "ticks" which spread lime disease.
Aren't you in New Brunswick?
BTW I have been to Moncton, Nb..
You have a fascinating Magnetic Hill there. :)
Send me some lobster rolls, I miss them on the Ferry.
Bun Mui
Donna Richoux
Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
> I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
> under "tich" or "titch".
>
> I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall performer
> "Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
Surely it's a variation on "Just a touch"? I've heard of "tetch" as a
pronunciation of "touch," also in the sense of "a little, a bit," but
never "tich."
Standard English would be, "This needs just a touch of salt." Is that
where you would use "tich"?
Best wishes --- Donna Richoux
JNugent231
>From: Bun Mui <xBun...@usa.net>
>Must be a Canadian invented word. Eh? :)
>But there are "ticks" which spread lime disease.
Surprised you didn't latch on...... (and no, this is definitely not a wind-up).
Peter Buchwald
>> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>> meaning just a little
>Surely it's a variation on "Just a touch"? I've heard of "tetch" as a
>pronunciation of "touch," also in the sense of "a little, a bit," but
>never "tich."
I have never heard the expression "just a titch" used in this way, but Eric
Partridge does give a probable derivation from the word "touch" in the
Dictionary of historical slang published in 1972. Partridge also gives a
meaning of a flogging, but I have never heard of this usage either.
In London, at least from the fifties, a "titch" has always referred to
someone who was vertically challenged, as in "he is just a titch" - he is a
short person. This expression used to be very common in London, and perhaps
this was derived from a music hall performer as the original poster
suggested.
--
PAB
http://www.buchwald.dircon.co.uk/
Mike Barnes
In alt.usage.english, Eric The Read <emsc...@mail.uccs.edu> spake
thuswise:
>Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> writes:
>> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>> examples of usage, all from Canada.
>>
>> I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>> under "tich" or "titch".
>
>of "touch", having used "titch", "tetch", "touch" and other
>pronunciations, depending on where I was living at the time.
>
>-=Eric
From Chambers English dictionary:
*tich* (coll.) n. a very short person: often used (with cap.) as a
nickname. [From the music-hall artist Harry Relph, known as Little
Tich.]
*titch* another spelling of *tich*
The shortest of my siblings, when a child, was often referred to in the
family as "titch".
--
-- Mike Barnes, Stockport, England.
-- If you post a response to Usenet, please *don't* send me a copy by e-mail.
John Davies
In article <6kmj28$fdb$1...@garnet.nbnet.nb.ca>, Roots
<muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> writes
>I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
>I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>under "tich" or "titch".
>
>"Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
Chambers, usually cautious in its attributions, says "Tich" (also spelt
"titch") does indeed come from "Little Tich", the stage name of Harry
Relph. It's a common nickname for a short person. There's also an
adjective, "tichy".
I haven't myself heard "just a tich" in the sense of a small amount:
perhaps it's limited to Canada.
--
John Davies (jo...@redwoods.demon.co.uk)
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
>I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>under "tich" or "titch".
>
Look harder. The OED lists 'titch' as a dialect form of 'touch'.
>I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall performer
>"Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
A little titch is standard in NW England for an undersized
person. It is pronounced like 'itch' with a 't' in front and may
come from bell-ringing. There was a time when bells were valuable
items of loot and a devastated county could not raise even a
peal. At any rate that's what my father told me.
David McMurray
Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
> I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
> under "tich" or "titch".
>
> I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall performer
> "Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
Paul Beale, the editor of _A Concise Dictionary of Slang and
Unconventional English_ (based on the work of Eric Partridge) does
indeed give this as the source for "tichy" or "titchy", meaning "small"
or "little".
I have heard it used as you describe it and may have used it myself in
the distant past. I have always assumed that it was intended as a
(humourous?) mispronunciation of "touch", perhaps related to "just a
tick", meaning "just a moment".
According to Beale, "Little Tich" was the stage name of comedian Harry
Relph, 1867-1928; supposedly, "Tich" is a nickname given to any small
man.
--
David
JNugent231
>From: ik0...@kingston.net (David McMurray)
>Paul Beale, the editor of _A Concise Dictionary of Slang and
>Unconventional English_ (based on the work of Eric Partridge) does
>indeed give this as the source for "tichy" or "titchy", meaning "small"
>or "little".
>According to Beale, "Little Tich" was the stage name of comedian Harry
>Relph, 1867-1928; supposedly, "Tich" is a nickname given to any small
>man.
>
That's right. Remeber "Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich"? Or, as Paul
McCartney once memorably referred to them (and was quoted): "Dave Dee, Snotty,
Beaky, Miki & Griff".
Jitze Couperus
On Fri, 29 May 1998 12:08:05 -0300, Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!>
wrote:
>I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
>I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>under "tich" or "titch".
>
I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED. My experience is
that it was common slang (at least at the boarding schools I
attended) to mean "small". In fact I remember one poor soul of
very slight stature whose nickname was Tichy.
However, I just went down the hall an inquired of a colleague
who attended boarding school in Britain (rather than Kenya in my
case) and he was unfamiliar with the usage.
So maybe it is a Commonwealth thing. Any other takers?
Jitze
---
If replying - first remove the .spam.filter from my address
Chris Price
Roots wrote:
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a
> tich"
> meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>
> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband
> who
> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
> I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
> under "tich" or "titch".
>
> I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall
> performer
> "Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
tich slang. Also Tich, titch.
The stage name Little Tich of the dwarfish music-hall comedian Harry
Relph (1868_1928), who was given the nickname as a child because of a
resemblance to the Tichborne claimant (see below), used as a name for
any small person. Cf. titchy a.
Arthur Orton (1834_98), the Tichborne claimant, claimed in 1866 to be
Roger Charles Tichborne (1829_54), the heir to an English baronetcy, who
was lost at sea. Orton was finally discredited and imprisoned in 1874.
(OED)
Chris Price
Stuart Leichter
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> meaning just a little.[...]
Undependable here, but I think the movie _Lover, Come Back_ (late 1950s or
early 1960s, Doris Day & Rock Hudson) had a Kentucky-colonel stereotype
character who drank constantly as a running gag (i.e., recurring funny
bit). When offered a refill, he would say "Just a titch" or "Just a
tetch", and maybe pronouncing "just" as "jest" or "jist" also. Maybe I'm
wrong enough to have jogged someone's better memory of that character?
--
Stuart Leichter
Aaron J. Dinkin
In article <356f3676....@news.cdc.com>,
Jitze.C...@cdc.spam.filter.com (Jitze Couperus) wrote:
> I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED. My experience is
> that it was common slang (at least at the boarding schools I
> attended) to mean "small". In fact I remember one poor soul of
> very slight stature whose nickname was Tichy.
>
> However, I just went down the hall an inquired of a colleague
> who attended boarding school in Britain (rather than Kenya in my
> case) and he was unfamiliar with the usage.
>
> So maybe it is a Commonwealth thing. Any other takers?
I recall that Roald Dahl's _Matilda_ uses the word "titchy". I also
remember being totally mystified as to what it meant. I think I eventually
concluded it meant 'uncertain and anxious'.
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom
Bob Cunningham
NSOED/93 has:
titch [...] n. colloq. Also tich. M20. [(f. Little Tich, stage
name of the tiny music hall comedian Harry Relph (1868-1928).]
(A name for) a small person.
titchy [...] a. colloq. M20. (f. prec. + -y.] Very small,
minute, tiny.
Chambers/93 has essentially the same.
N.Mitchum
Roots wrote:
-------
> I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
> grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> examples of usage, all from Canada.
After reading a dozen replies, I was surprised to find nobody had
mentioned the form with which I myself am familiar. I've heard
the expression, though not frequently, and the few times I've seen
it written it's been "just a tidge." I have taken this to be an
obvious blend of "touch" and "smidge."
-----NM
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
Jitze Couperus
In article <adinkin-ya0231800...@news.nii.net>,
adi...@commschool.org (Aaron J. Dinkin) wrote:
> In article <356f3676....@news.cdc.com>,
> Jitze.C...@cdc.spam.filter.com (Jitze Couperus) wrote:
>
> > I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED. My experience is
> > that it was common slang (at least at the boarding schools I
> > attended) to mean "small". In fact I remember one poor soul of
> > very slight stature whose nickname was Tichy.
> >
> > However, I just went down the hall an inquired of a colleague
> > who attended boarding school in Britain (rather than Kenya in my
> > case) and he was unfamiliar with the usage.
> >
> > So maybe it is a Commonwealth thing. Any other takers?
>
> I recall that Roald Dahl's _Matilda_ uses the word "titchy". I also
> remember being totally mystified as to what it meant. I think I eventually
> concluded it meant 'uncertain and anxious'.
>
Since this thread appeared, others have found the word in some dictionaries.
But if they hadn't I would have taken your reference to Roald Dahl's
useage as maybe confirmation of a Kenya origin - see the second book
of his Bio - _Going Solo_ wherein he spends early adulthood in
East Africa.
Kenya seems to have influenced more than its fair share of authors
ranging from Karen Blixen, Elspeth Huxley, and Beryl Markham to
Robert Ruark, Ernest Hemingway, and aforementioned Roald Dahl.
Maybe if I give it a shot...
Jitze
--
If replying, remove spam.filter from above address
Susan Umpleby
Aaron J. Dinkin wrote in message ...
>In article <356f3676....@news.cdc.com>,
>Jitze.C...@cdc.spam.filter.com (Jitze Couperus) wrote:
>
>> I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED. My experience is
>> that it was common slang (at least at the boarding schools I
>> attended) to mean "small". In fact I remember one poor soul of
>> very slight stature whose nickname was Tichy.
>>
>> However, I just went down the hall an inquired of a colleague
>> who attended boarding school in Britain (rather than Kenya in my
>> case) and he was unfamiliar with the usage.
>>
>> So maybe it is a Commonwealth thing. Any other takers?
>
>I recall that Roald Dahl's _Matilda_ uses the word "titchy". I also
>remember being totally mystified as to what it meant. I think I
eventually
>concluded it meant 'uncertain and anxious'.
-----There is also a series of children's books by Pat Hutchins
featuring a character called Titch, a very small boy always playing
"catch up" to his older brother & sister.
Wil Parker
Bun Mui (xBun...@usa.net) wrote:
: >I was wondering if the word comes from the English Music Hall performer
: >"Little Tich" or whether he took his stage name from the expression.
: Must be a Canadian invented word. Eh? :)
: But there are "ticks" which spread lime disease.
Surely you have heard the expression, "A tich in time stops lime."
Best regards,
Wil Parker
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
--
We all know that large corporations own most of the media and
that what they don't own is dependent on them for revenue.
How then, when the media has such an overwhelming influence
on public opinion, can Canada ever be a true and balanced democracy?
Mike Connally
In article <couperus-300...@svlglink1.svl.cdc.com>,
coup...@cdc.spam.filter.com (Jitze Couperus) wrote:
> Kenya seems to have influenced more than its fair share of authors
> ranging from Karen Blixen, Elspeth Huxley, and Beryl Markham to
> Robert Ruark, Ernest Hemingway, and aforementioned Roald Dahl.
>
> Maybe if I give it a shot...
Go for it Jitze! Anyone who has sued himself for a treasonable
act in order to be stripped of his citizenship, and refused the
State's offer of a public defender, preferring to defend himself,
and won (or lost, depending on point of view) certainly has a
book or two in there somewhere.
Put me down for a copy.
--
Mike Connally Reading, England
'All great truths begin as blasphemies.' - George Bernard Shaw
Robert Clark
I would have spelt it 'titchy'
RC
Susan Umpleby <sump...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<6kq86v$ikp$1...@argentina.it.earthlink.net>...
John Holmes
Jitze Couperus wrote in message <356f3676....@news.cdc.com>...
>I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED. My experience is
>that it was common slang (at least at the boarding schools I
>attended) to mean "small". In fact I remember one poor soul of
>very slight stature whose nickname was Tichy.
[...]
>So maybe it is a Commonwealth thing. Any other takers?
It's common children's slang in Australia too. I can't remember seeing
the word written very often, but I think it's usually spelt "titch"
here.
Regards,
John.
hol...@smart.net.au
email copies of any replies would be appreciated.
Jitze Couperus
In article <Mike.Connally-ya0236...@news.dial.pipex.com>,
Mike.C...@dial.pipex.com (Mike Connally) wrote:
>
> Go for it Jitze! Anyone who has sued himself for a treasonable
> act in order to be stripped of his citizenship, and refused the
> State's offer of a public defender, preferring to defend himself,
> and won (or lost, depending on point of view) certainly has a
> book or two in there somewhere.
>
> Put me down for a copy.
Well well! I was familiar with the poster named Mike Connally, but never
associated it with *that* Mike Connally - small world. And here I was
smug in the assumption that nobody in a.u.e. would recognize me if I
walked down the street...aaargh!
So in return I'll mutter something about a species of Brit.eccentric
who collects rare dolls (and speaks Dutch to boot - which I can only
agree is a further mark of something). So there!
Good to see you in these hallowed halls.
Mike Connally
In article <couperus-310...@svlglink1.svl.cdc.com>,
coup...@cdc.spam.filter.com (Jitze Couperus) wrote:
> So in return I'll mutter something about a species of Brit.eccentric
> who collects rare dolls (and speaks Dutch to boot - which I can only
> agree is a further mark of something). So there!
Eccentric? Moi? I must confess the odd quirk, like such an extreme
fondness for NOS/VE that I used to have my very own, fully functional,
CYBER 930 in the spare room.
Sadly, Els made me shed it last year when we moved to a smaller house.
But she allowed the moggie and the Mog to stay, proving she's not
totally heartless.
Obaue: When Roald Dahl wrote 'titchy', did he mean 'tetchy'?
Roots
John Holmes wrote:
>
> Jitze Couperus wrote in message <356f3676....@news.cdc.com>...
> >I'm really surprised "tichy" isn't in the OED.
"Titch" meaning "touch" in the tactile sense is there, but "tich"
meaning "a little bit" is not there.
Roots
>According to Beale, "Little Tich" was the stage name of comedian Harry
>Relph, 1867-1928; supposedly, "Tich" is a nickname given to any small
>man.
There was a clip of him on the recent PBS documentary "Vaudeville".
So obviously the expression came before the performer. I've looked up a
few instances of the usage of the word and it is spelled "tich" not
"titch".
Roots
>I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
>meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
>from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
>grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
>examples of usage, all from Canada.
>
>I looked it up in Webster's and in the OED and didn't find anything
>under "tich" or "titch".
>Look harder. The OED lists 'titch' as a dialect form of 'touch'.
When I said it wasn't there, I meant it wasn't there with the definition
I was looking up. Don't be so "titchy".
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>
>>Look harder. The OED lists 'titch' as a dialect form of 'touch'.
>
>When I said it wasn't there, I meant it wasn't there with the definition
>I was looking up. Don't be so "titchy".
That's "tetchy". Different.
David Chettleburgh
Roots wrote:
> On Fri, 29 May 1998 12:08:05 -0300, Roots
> <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> wrote:
>
> >I am wondering if anyone has information on the expression "just a tich"
> >meaning just a little. I always thought this was a common word. I am
> >from central Canada and have have always used it, as has my husband who
> >grew up on the East Coast. I checked Deja News and found a couple of
> >examples of usage, all from Canada.
> >
>
I grew up in East Anglia in the 40's with the word "tich" commonly used for
a tiny person and "tichy" meaning very small and I just assumed it was a
Norfolk dialect word. Maybe not.
Dave
Roots
*Groan* It was a pun. Sheesh.
Cissy . Thorpe
I don't see much of a difference in pronunciation between "titch" and
"tich" when I read the post the first time, I assumed "touchy"...meaning
oversensitive, rquires careful attention, etc.
My 2p
Cissy
Mike Zorn
In <6kuk0s$h4l$2...@garnet.nbnet.nb.ca> Roots <muldrew!!@nbnet.nb.ca!!!> writes:
>>According to Beale, "Little Tich" was the stage name of comedian Harry
>>Relph, 1867-1928; supposedly, "Tich" is a nickname given to any small
>>man.
a tick" (for half-a-clock-tick).
Mike Zorn rigo...@kaiwan.com
a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
You from Newfoundland?
labo...@gmail.com
Horace LaBadie
> I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US
> phrase.
Steve Hayes
>I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US phrase.
Never seen the "tich" version before.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Charles Bishop
> On Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:07:57 -0800 (PST), labo...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> >I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US
> >phrase.
>
> We also spelt it titch.
>
> Never seen the "tich" version before.
written), and "just a skosh" or "skoshie" for a "little bit".
--
Charles
Bart Dinnissen
a touch'. Was I mistaken?
--
Bart Dinnissen
"I hate mysteries. They bug me. They need to be solved."
- Felicity Smoak
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Peter Duncanson [BrE]
wrote:
>On Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:36:29 -0800, in alt.usage.english Charles Bishop
><ctbi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>In article <qc9saa1k0u74lvan0...@4ax.com>,
>> Steve Hayes <haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:07:57 -0800 (PST), labo...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>> >I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US
>>> >phrase.
>>>
>>> We also spelt it titch.
>>>
>>> Never seen the "tich" version before.
>>
>>I've used "just a titch" (don't think I ever wrote it or saw it
>>written), and "just a skosh" or "skoshie" for a "little bit".
>
>I read 'just a titch' in a Stephen King novel and assumed it meant "just
>a touch'. Was I mistaken?
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/touch
touch
noun
2. A small amount; a trace:
"add a touch of vinegar"
"he retired to bed with a touch of flu"
"titch" carries the sense of smallness.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/titch
titch
noun
British informal
A small person: the titch of the class [as name]:
"Titch did not bother to answer"
"Like the woman who prefers the genuinely tall fellow to the titch
in Cuban heels."
"Incidentally, 28 years ago today was the day that our parents
brought Sasha and me to L.A. (we came to the U.S. one day before,
and stayed the night in New York on our way); I think we've been
citizens just a titch over 20 years.
"It can't be guns; the gun ownership rate today (40-45% of all
households) is roughly the same as it has been for decades -
possibly a titch lower, but not by much."
There is also the adjective "titchy" meaning "very small".
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/titchy
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)
David Kleinecke
used in the San Francisco Bay area.
Charles Bishop
--
charles, outlier
Tony Cooper
Tony Cooper
heard frequently in the Midwest when I grew up...just a skosh.
David Kleinecke
picked up in Occupied Japan.
Tony Cooper
Francisco. It was used in a national advertising campaign for Levi's
jeans: "Just a skosh more room". Backwards as we have been in
Indiana, we did see national ads.
http://languagehouse.squarespace.com/storage/post-images/skosh2.png?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1415336719124
Peter T. Daniels
> > I've used "just a titch" (don't think I ever wrote it or saw it
> > written), and "just a skosh" or "skoshie" for a "little bit".
>
> used in the San Francisco Bay area.
had "a skosh more room." Maybe it was Levi's and reflected their SF origin.
Mark Brader
> > > Skosh is a loan word from Japanese...
> It came in around 1950 so I thought it was picked up in Occupied Japan.
derivation from Japanese "sukoshi" meaning "a little, somewhat".
The first cite is from 1959, "recorded by Prof. A.L. Hench, Univ.
of Virginia". In support of the etymology is a 1955 cite from
"American Speech": "Along with... everyday greetings, Bamboo English
employs sukoshi 'few, some' and its antonym takusan 'plenty', both
of which are forthwith made into two-syllable words, dispensing with
the voiceless Japanese u."
("Bamboo English", in turn, is defined in the OED Online as "depreciative:
a term applied to any of various English-based pidgins originating in
Southeast Asia." ObAUE: I would have said that the adjective for
"deprecate" was "deprecatory", not "depreciative".)
While I was in there, I also looked up "titch". It has "tich" as the
primary spelling and "Tich" as another alternative, and gives it only in
reference to a person, not to a -- er -- skosh.
# The stage name Little Tich of the dwarfish music-hall comedian
# Harry Relph (1868-1928), who was given the nickname as a child
# because of a resemblance to the Tichborne claimant (see below),
# used as a name for any small person.
For those who don't know, the "below" explanation is:
# Arthur Orton (1834-98), the Tichborne claimant, claimed in 1866
# to be Roger Charles Tichborne (1829-54), the heir to an English
# baronetcy, who was lost at sea. Orton was finally discredited and
# imprisoned in 1874.
There is one other use of "titch" and that is as a 16th-18th century
dialect spelling of the verb "touch". And it occurs to me to conjecture
that if a "titch" or "tich" has been extended from a small person to
a small amount, the resemblance of the word to a "touch" may have been
a factor.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "C takes the point of view that the programmer
m...@vex.net | is always right" -- Michael DeCorte
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Sam Plusnet
labo...@gmail.com says...
> I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US phrase.
I would have taken it to be an unwanted reference to my short stature.
--
Sam
Sam Plusnet
says...
> # Arthur Orton (1834-98), the Tichborne claimant, claimed in 1866
> # to be Roger Charles Tichborne (1829-54), the heir to an English
> # baronetcy, who was lost at sea. Orton was finally discredited and
> # imprisoned in 1874.
>
>
I offer thanks to the Charles Booth Poverty maps of London which
(somewhere) contains this small gem.
--
Sam
Charles Bishop
> On Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 6:16:23 PM UTC-8, Charles Bishop wrote:
> > In article <08477f43-27b7-42c5...@googlegroups.com>,
> > David Kleinecke <dklei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Skosh is a loan word from Japanese. So far as I know it is only
> > > used in the San Francisco Bay area.
> >
> > Unless your father was a pilot who flew to Japan frequently.
>
> I am a bit confused. It came in around 1950 so I thought it was
> picked up in Occupied Japan.
Charles, Hawai'i, Midway, Wake, Guam, Japan
Charles Bishop
Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> Okay, so one time? In band camp? Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> was all, like:
> > primary spelling and "Tich" as another alternative, and gives it only in
> > reference to a person, not to a -- er -- skosh.
>
Is "tetched" as in "tetched in the head" related? Seems like a different
spelling of "touched".
--
charles
Jerry Friedman
[skosh]
> ("Bamboo English", in turn, is defined in the OED Online as "depreciative:
> a term applied to any of various English-based pidgins originating in
> Southeast Asia." ObAUE: I would have said that the adjective for
> "deprecate" was "deprecatory", not "depreciative".)
> While I was in there, I also looked up "titch". It has "tich" as the
> primary spelling and "Tich" as another alternative, and gives it only in
> reference to a person, not to a -- er -- skosh.
>
> # The stage name Little Tich of the dwarfish music-hall comedian
> # Harry Relph (1868-1928), who was given the nickname as a child
> # because of a resemblance to the Tichborne claimant (see below),
> # used as a name for any small person.
>
> For those who don't know, the "below" explanation is:
just one of the many words with a short "i" that refer to something
itsy-bitsy.
> # Arthur Orton (1834-98), the Tichborne claimant, claimed in 1866
> # to be Roger Charles Tichborne (1829-54), the heir to an English
> # baronetcy, who was lost at sea. Orton was finally discredited and
> # imprisoned in 1874.
>
> There is one other use of "titch" and that is as a 16th-18th century
> dialect spelling of the verb "touch". And it occurs to me to conjecture
> that if a "titch" or "tich" has been extended from a small person to
> a small amount, the resemblance of the word to a "touch" may have been
> a factor.
--
Jerry Friedman
Mark Brader
>> a term applied to any of various English-based pidgins originating in
>> Southeast Asia." ObAUE: I would have said that the adjective for
>> "deprecate" was "deprecatory", not "depreciative".)
case.
--
Mark Brader | "I'm here to give you the whole truth. All printed
Toronto | dictionaries of English are wrong. ... Deal with it."
m...@vex.net | --Geoffrey K. Pullum
Steve Hayes
wrote:
I knew someone whose nickname within her family was "Heck".
She explained it as being short for "Hecknical Titch."
Dr Nick
> On 1/8/15 10:46 PM, Mark Brader wrote:
>
> [skosh]
>
>> ("Bamboo English", in turn, is defined in the OED Online as "depreciative:
>> a term applied to any of various English-based pidgins originating in
>> Southeast Asia." ObAUE: I would have said that the adjective for
>> "deprecate" was "deprecatory", not "depreciative".)
>
> "Depreciative" is the adjective for "depreciate".
>
>> While I was in there, I also looked up "titch". It has "tich" as the
>> primary spelling and "Tich" as another alternative, and gives it only in
>> reference to a person, not to a -- er -- skosh.
>>
>> # The stage name Little Tich of the dwarfish music-hall comedian
>> # Harry Relph (1868-1928), who was given the nickname as a child
>> # because of a resemblance to the Tichborne claimant (see below),
>> # used as a name for any small person.
>>
>> For those who don't know, the "below" explanation is:
>
> Thanks, I had no idea the etymology was so specific. I thought it was
> just one of the many words with a short "i" that refer to something
> itsy-bitsy.
>> # Arthur Orton (1834-98), the Tichborne claimant, claimed in 1866
>> # to be Roger Charles Tichborne (1829-54), the heir to an English
>> # baronetcy, who was lost at sea. Orton was finally discredited and
>> # imprisoned in 1874.
>>
>> There is one other use of "titch" and that is as a 16th-18th century
>> dialect spelling of the verb "touch". And it occurs to me to conjecture
>> that if a "titch" or "tich" has been extended from a small person to
>> a small amount, the resemblance of the word to a "touch" may have been
>> a factor.
>
> I'd buy that.
all surprised if I asked "do you want any water with that" and got "just
a titch" as a reply. I'm still not sure.
Peter Duncanson [BrE]
wrote:
>On Fri, 09 Jan 2015 17:57:01 -0800, Charles Bishop <ctbi...@earthlink.net>
>wrote:
>
>>In article <slrnmavo36....@kreme.eternal-september.org>,
>> Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>>
>>> Okay, so one time? In band camp? Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> was all, like:
>>> > While I was in there, I also looked up "titch". It has "tich" as the
>>> > primary spelling and "Tich" as another alternative, and gives it only in
>>> > reference to a person, not to a -- er -- skosh.
>>>
>>> Didn't Ron Weasley refer to the first years as "titchy"?
>>
>>Is "tetched" as in "tetched in the head" related? Seems like a different
>>spelling of "touched".
>
>In MyE "tetchy" means "irritable".
>
tetchy | techy, adj.
1. Easily irritated or made angry; quick to take offence;
short-tempered; peevish, irritable; testy. (Cf. TOUCHY adj., which
has been associated with this from early in the 17th c.)
>I knew someone whose nickname within her family was "Heck".
>
>She explained it as being short for "Hecknical Titch."
--
GordonD
Steve Hayes <haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:07:57 -0800 (PST), labo...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> >I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a southern US
>> >phrase.
>>
>> We also spelt it titch.
>>
>> Never seen the "tich" version before.
puppet Lord Charles, but he also did children's shows with a schoolboy
puppet called Tich (invariably teamed up with a duck called Quackers). It
was spelt that way, without the middle 't'.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland
R H Draney
news:chg0t1...@mid.individual.net:
Dozy, Beaky and Mick....
(You have no idea how hard it is to stop yourself one name short of
completing that list)....r
GordonD
news:XnsA41F950C067E0d...@74.209.136.97...
Trivia note: Dave Dee was a police cadet and was one of the first on the
scene of the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran. He taught himself to play
guitar using Cochran's instrument, which had been impounded until the
coroner's inquest was completed.
Bertel Lund Hansen
> The puppet later went off to form a rock group with his friends Dave Dee,
> Dozy, Beaky and Mick....
--
Bertel, Denmark
Katy Jennison
> R H Draney skrev:
>
>> The puppet later went off to form a rock group with his friends Dave Dee,
>> Dozy, Beaky and Mick....
>
> The "and" comes after "Mick".
>
one name short of completing that list".
--
Katy Jennison
R H Draney
news:m906af$9qc$2...@news.albasani.net:
http://youtu.be/ycg3jczcklQ
....r
pauljk
"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA4207BCDA60DEd...@74.209.136.99...
pjk
GordonD
news:XnsA41F950C067E0d...@74.209.136.97...
news:chg0t1...@mid.individual.net:
> In article <qc9saa1k0u74lvan0...@4ax.com>,
> Steve Hayes <haye...@telkomsa.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 7 Jan 2015 19:07:57 -0800 (PST), labo...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>> >I grew up saying "just a titch" and always assumed it was a
>>> >southern US phrase.
>>>
>>> We also spelt it titch.
>>>
>>> Never seen the "tich" version before.
>
> The English ventriloquist Ray Alan was best known for his upper-class
> toff puppet Lord Charles, but he also did children's shows with a
> schoolboy puppet called Tich (invariably teamed up with a duck called
> Quackers). It was spelt that way, without the middle 't'.
The puppet later went off to form a rock group with his friends Dave Dee,
Dozy, Beaky and Mick....
Coincidentally, Dozy has passed away...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-30811311