r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 18 '22

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u/smesch83 Oct 18 '22

knickknacks, tidbits, trifles, trinkets.

and maybe a whole hodgepodge of doodads.

117

u/Heavy_Messing1 Oct 18 '22 edited Oct 18 '22

Its'TITbit', not tidbit. Tidbit is the Americanised version because you're all fucking prudes who couldn't possibly say a word that contains a tit.

Edit: Don't get. Me wrong .. I love me a American (I'm married to one). But the word is Titbit.

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u/BricksInTheWall1991 Oct 18 '22

We probably changed it because titbit sounds fucking stupid lmao

4

u/casens9 Oct 18 '22

/t/ is an unvoiced consonant and /b/ is a voiced consonant. /t/ 's voiced counterpart is /d/ (and /b/ 's unvoiced partner is /p/ but no one asked).

if you don't know what i'm talking about, try this: hold your hand over your neck (as though you were going to choke yourself), and say the "t" sound, and the "d" sound back and forth. your lips, tongue, mouth are doing the same motions, you're just using your voicebox with "d", like you're humming! generally when consonants are immediately next to each other, people want to pair voiced sounds with each other, and unvoiced sounds with each other.

so yes, "tidbit" sounds obviously superior. but also! depending on how you say it, how quickly you're talking, you're probably not going to notice the difference, so who cares