LL-L "Lexicon" 2006.05.14 (07) [E]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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L O W L A N D S - L * 14 May 2006 * Volume 07
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From: "jonny" <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2006.05.14 (05) [E]

Heather,

my association with "tittie" was like yours, I fear, and to be honest: I
don't trust
Sandy's explanation (*Laetitia*). But you should know that it is a very
common, more
or less neutral term (LS: _Titt_) in my archaic language; even in Standard
German we
use 'Zitze' for certain anatomic, very useful plants of mammals (ha!). I
sometimes
fear you and other "very british"  people suffering from your
German-descending
*Vicky* (Victoria ) with her and her husbands unspeakable underwears.

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

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From: "Sandy Fleming" <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2006.05.14 (05) [E]

> From: "Heather Rendall" <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
> Subject:  LL-L "Lexicon" 2006.05.12 (03) [E]
>
> Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
>
> Sandy wrote; >No, "Titty"'s short for Laetitia.<
>
> But would the fact that there is a local ( sort of) word 'tittie' have made
> the appellation acceptable.
>
> I can still remember the 'shock horror' of reading the name under a
> illustration while flicking through the book in a library, when I was about
> 9-10.
>
> In Sussex it was a very rude word on a par with 'bum' - words to be
> whispered in the school playground as a dare or as a great insult.
>
Bum is rude? Well, to the pure all things are pure I suppose  :)

I think we're talking about two fairly separate cultures when we're
talking about Titty as Laetitia (English) and tittie as sister (Scots).

I think the perception of this as a rude word might be fairly recent? We
have words like "dummy tit", "tom tit", "blue tit" and so on and they
cause no remark.

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Lexicon

In the Low Saxon dialects with which I am most familiar, the noun (Middle
Saxon _titte_ >) _tit_ (<Titt>) just means "teat," as of an udder.  It can
be perceived as vulgar if referring to women's breasts (for which a polite
word is _borst_ "breast"), but not in the sense of breast feeding, for
instance.  Also, a baby bottle can be referred to as _titbuddel_
(<Tittbuddel>) without sounding vulgar.

What is interesting is that _Titt_ (usually plural _Titten_) is definitely
vulgar in German.  I assume it is a Low Saxon loan that reached the
language via intermediary Missingsch.  I am not sure if the loanword has
reached Southern German dialects.  In "good" German, the cognate _Zitze_
means "teat" in reference to animals, and women's breasts are referred as
_Brust_ (= breast) or _Busen_ (= bossom).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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