TTFN
English
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Etymology
editIn 1939, initialisms, previously rarely used except by the military, were heard more frequently by the British public. ITMA satirised them by coining TTFN, a "pointless" initialism (no easier to say than the phrase on which it was based) to use as a catchphrase, which became widely repeated in the UK. Thirty years later, American ventriloquist Paul Winchell, following the suggestion of his third wife, Jean Freeman, who was British, improvised it as a signature phrase for the (originally British) character Tigger in the Disney films based on A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. This, in a world now accustomed to them, popularised worldwide a word originally coined to make fun of initialisms.
Phrase
editTTFN
- Initialism of ta ta for now; goodbye
- 1941-1945: (A catchphrase of Mrs Mopp (Dorothy Summers) in several series of the weekly topical comedy British radio programme It's That Man Again (ITMA))
- 1966: Catwoman (played by Julie Newmar) in the Batman episode "Better Luck Next Time" – Catwoman: "'TTFN", Batman: "What does that mean?", Catwoman: "Ta-ta for now."
- 1974: Tigger (voiced by Paul Winchell) in Unbouncing Tigger – Well, I gotta go, now! I got a lot of bouncing to do! Hoo-hoo-hoo! TTFN! Ta ta for now!
Synonyms
editReferences
edit- I don't mind if I do in Liverpool local history section of BBC website, at [1]
- Disney's Tigger voice dies at 82 on News section of BBC website, at [2]