Tattling about him over Coffee?

Tittle, Tattle, TEA and T

With the advent of computers and internet I hardly need to consult a dictionary. I don’t need to turn a page, I just type a word and the meaning flashes.  No wonder I opened my dictionary of phrases after ages. When I was young I loved the book with a passion but in the process the covers and many pages are gone too.

But I wish I could express my heartfelt indebtedness to the author and publisher of this gem of a book. By a strange coincidence as I opened the book, the page containing T fell out. The first phrase in that page held a wealth of information about: 

                           T, to suit to a. Something that is exact or perfect for its purpose – be it a dress or a job – can be said to suit someone to a T.  

Ah! There you are. It meant that as I love tea, it does mean that it suits me to a T. I know now why I have never liked coffee. The phrase intrigued me no end. I used to think that this phrase came from the draftsman's T-square. I know now how wrong I was all through. This phrase was in use even before the device was developed.

Now that the T-square origin is ruled out, we might as well look at the word “tittle” that describe a carefully placed dot or exact stroke of the pen. Thus ‘to a tittle’ meant ‘precisely’ while ‘a jot and a tittle’ meant a tiny amount. Someone who was suited to a tittle was therefore precisely suited. It is interesting to note that “Jot” is the Hebrew word “Yodh”- 10^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and also the smallest letter.

It is an English transliteration of “iota” which is the 9^th letter of the Greek alphabet. The “tittle” or a superscript dot is a small distinguishing mark, such as a diacritic or the dot on a lowercase i or j, the small decorative spur or point on the upper edge of the yodh.

There is a reference to it in Matthew 5:18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” The phrase “jot and tittle” in the quotation indicates that every small detail has received attention.

But here is a note of caution: one misplaced vowel can confuse “tittle” with “tattle,” which as noun means gossip; idle talk. As a verb it means to gossip idly; blabber etc. For example, “they were tattling about him over coffee,” to spread rumors, gossips.

So then little ‘tittle’ you have been permanently abbreviated to become a “T” but also resurrected as TEA that is exact or perfect for its purpose which is to warm you when you are cold: to cool you  when you are too heated. When you are depressed it will cheer you. Finally, it will calm you when you are excited. Or in other words, TEA suits everyone to a “T”.

Daniel Dalton sums it up beautifully:

“Tea, tea, a wonderful drink/ the more you have / the more you think /the better you write / so let’s drink tea all day and night.”