In article , raden wrote:
In message , Phil L
writes
Dave wrote:
Mary Fisher wrote:


There are collar doves, blackbirds, tits (coal and blue) and sparrows
in there and possibly others.

Mary, can you tell me how the tit family got its name? I tried a google
for an answer and got the obvious mammary return.

Dave

p.s. This is a valid question raised in the real ale pub that I have to
attend every day :-)

Tit is an old Germanic word for "small" and is used in various northern
European languages to refer to small objects, animals, or people,
especially girlsfor example, titta is a Norwegian dialect word for "little
girl." The word is most common in American English in combinations that
denote various small birds, such as the titmouse or tomtit. A titman in
the 19th century could mean a small or stunted person, as Henry David
Thoreau indicates when he calls his generation "a race of tit-men." Tit
and titman are still used in New England, mostly by farmers to refer to
the runt of a litter of pigs.


So how did it come to be associated with breasts then ?

Old English Titt = teat

And before you ask, tittilate is from the Latin for tickle.

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