"Tad bit"--("tee-nine-shih")

[Wilson Gray]

That looks very reasonable to me, G. And [ts] <=> [tS] is
cross-linguistic. I recall some guru saying about his ex-wife, "See is
a bits." In Modern Greek, whether one pronounces TS as [ts] or as [tS]
is a shibboleth that reveals one's social class. And "tee-nine-tsih"
sounds as right as "tee-nine-shih" to my internal ear. I would have
given it as an alternate pronunciation, if I'd thought of it.

-Wilson

]
On 8/14/06, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at umr.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Tad bit"--("tee-nine-shih")
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here's a possibility:
>   The first two syllables ("tee-nine") may be blended from "teeny" + =
> "tiny" (TEEN- from "teeny" and -IN- from "tiny"). As for "-shih" my =
> guess (and it's only a guess) is that we deal with an alteration of  the =
> "-tsy" in "teentsy," "eentsy," "tinetsy," etc.  The "ts" became blurred =
> to "sh" (are there other examples of this?) and for the final vowel cf. =
> Missouri/Missour-uh, Ohio/Ohi-uh, Cincinnati/Cincinnat-uh.
>     So perhaps the blend comes ultimately from "teentsy" + "tinetsy."
> =20
> Gerald Cohen
> P.S. In my earlier message I should have said that the two forms which =
> blended to give "tinetsy" were "tiny" + a form like "teentsy" or =
> "eentsy-weentsy." =20
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Wilson Gray
> Sent: Sun 8/13/2006 10:28 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: "Tad bit"
>
>
>
> And there's "tee-nine-shih," common among both black speakers and
> white speakers in the South, or in Texas, at least. I don't know what
> it might be a blend of, if it is one.
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 8/10/06, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at umr.edu> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at UMR.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: "Tad bit"
> > =
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> > Or more specifically, it started as a blend: from "a tad" + "a little =
> =3D
> > bit."  Evidently there are several examples of blends involving the =
> =3D
> > expression of something very small, e.g. "teeny" from "tiny" + "wee"; =
> =3D
> > "tinetsy" from "tiny" + "teeny". =3D20
> > =3D20
> > Gerald Cohen
>
>
> <snip>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have
found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be
imposed upon them.

Frederick Douglass

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org