Why do we say tata

Heaven help us, this thread has been going on for years and has assumed a life of its own. Perhaps time to say ta very much and ta ta. He told me, and after that another Tassie player used it. Now I love it and use it myself when I think to. I was under the impression that ta-ta, which means good-bye, comes from a region of India. It was picked up by the Brits who were in India during colonial rule. My grandfather, who was born in Bangalore, explained this to me.

I only learned much later that it came from ITMA. Later in my childhood we visited Norway. Often heard Tara luv on Coronation Street. In London where I was born we always used Ta for thank you. Ta Ta was always goodbye. Ta ta luv. I listened to the brand-new Radio 1 pop music and watched mostly American imports on the telly. We loved the far superior color quality over what we saw in the U. I definitely remember ta for thanks, and ta-ta for goodbye.

And despite all the comments above I cling to a vague impression that ta could also be bye. I wonder why? I wonder if it is true. So I searched Google and this article appeared. I have to admit coming from UK town which was settled by Scandinavian we used to say Danes or Vikings, the use of Ta is still in use and slightly unusual for such a southerly English town.

It is such an easy, pleasant and endearing word which has softened in pronunciation over the centuries. It has been so pervasive, that it has been assimilated and nativized in vernacular languages. This is significant, as Indian languages have no term for saying good bye. Ta — Ta thus filled the void. It is commonly used and very popular in infantile parlance. However, Educated and elitist speakers eschew the term as being downmarket.

I noticed a comment above suggesting the well-spoken would avoid such expressions, but its usage is universal in Australia. Im a northerner that moved to Norway over 20 yrs ago. England had the Danelaw for hundreds of years, with a huge influence of standard English and our dialects.

Jim Davies Daviesafk gmail. TATA was a businessman in India mainly in steel and auto industry. Later it was used as a replacement of OK bye-bye and it became common in then British India and then later in other parts of the world.

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Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims. Archived Questions Goto Qn. Where did the word 'ta ta' as in meaning 'bye bye' come from? Currently voted the best answer. Baloo55th Answer has 3 votes. Baloo55th 19 year member replies Answer has 3 votes.

Ta-ta in the Times Dictionary. Listed as 19th C and of unknown origin. Wikipedia has only this to say: "ta! Thank you! Improve this question. Pekka Pekka 1, 4 4 gold badges 22 22 silver badges 32 32 bronze badges. I have heard it used many times in Autralia. I also use it frequently. On occasion, I have received blank stares from non native-english speakers when I use it.

I always thought "Ta" and "Ta ta" meant good-bye. Do you have a source for this possibly? It's also used by some Australians, confusing other Australians who don't use it. Unfortunately, I don't have any more detailed data on use-by-region than that.

Show 1 more comment. Active Oldest Votes. Online Etymology Dictionary says: ta : , "natural infantile sound of gratitude" [Weekley]. Improve this answer. Mehper C. Palavuzlar Mehper C. Palavuzlar Small children in England are sometimes reminded by their elders to say "tata". I've never heard adults using the double version.

I've only ever heard 'tata' used as a substitute for goodbye - never as thanks or ta. Obviously written by a southerner. Ta is the normal form of thanks in Northern England — mgb. Ta is also pretty standard in Wales — Ina. I'm sorry but I can't "buy" this etymology at all. If you spend a few weeks in the north of England, you'd quickly realize that "ta" has nothing to do with babies. Add a comment.