Where does ta! come from? - English Language Usage Stack Exchange ta: 1772, "natural infantile sound of gratitude" [Weekley] Although possibly originating from the imitative of baby talk, this is in widespread use in the North of England and Wales as an informal "thanks" amongst adults American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says: ta: Chiefly British Used to express thanks ETYMOLOGY:
Ta and ta-ta - English Language Usage Stack Exchange tata also ta-ta, "good-bye," 1823, a word first recorded as infant's speech Abbreviation T T F N , "ta-ta for now," popularized 1941 by BBC radio program "ITMA," where it was the characteristic parting of the cockney cleaning woman character Mrs Mopp, voiced by Dorothy Summers
Why do we say to boot? - English Language Usage Stack Exchange Here's an example of the phrase "to boot": My wife made a disgusting looking dinner, and it tasted awful to boot! The implication of the "to boot" is that the fact that the dinner tasted awful wa
Data pronunciation: dayta or dahta? - English Language Usage . . . It's DAY-ta on Star Trek, which is perhaps the ultimate reference :-) I cannot imagine Patrick Stewart saying "Dah-ta " P S An editorial reminder (as mentioned earlier) that data is plural; e g , "the data are clear" not "the data is clear " Feel free to edit this answer for references to data being either plural or singular in usage
Is TAed a word? - English Language Usage Stack Exchange We commonly abbreviate teacher's assistant as TA Suppose I have the following sentence: I was a teacher's assistant for Chemistry 101 We can also say: I was a TA for Chemistry 101 But, is it right if we said: I TA'ed Chemistry 101 Clearly the meaning gets across, but does the sentence above have proper grammar?
Origin of tada - English Language Usage Stack Exchange "Tada" is indeed an onomatopoeia (from OED): Imitative of the sound of the musical flourish or fanfare (composed of one short note followed by one long note) which often accompanies an entrance, trick, etc , in various kinds of performance