Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!world!rmura From: rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: "Titmouse" (Was Re: Contact Notes of Winter Birds in Seattle) Message-ID: Date: 3 Dec 90 21:15:53 GMT References: <11634@milton.u.washington.edu> <1990Nov26.005512.16482@massey.ac.nz> <1990Nov26.163212.13984@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Sender: rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) Organization: The World Lines: 29 In-Reply-To: rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu's message of 26 Nov 90 16:32:12 GMT In article <1990Nov26.163212.13984@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> rcb33483@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (ArchTeryx) writes: > > > Not to flame, but that's the oldest one in the birder's joke book. (At least, > the implied pun is). And yes, chickadees are called tits in Europe. I believe > it comes from Old English 'titr', which means small (BTW, 'titmouse' im America > comes from 'titr mase' which means small bird). > If anyone is interested, I asked my sister, a scholar of Medieval English, on the origin of the word "titmouse" and this is what she had to say: I did some detective work on the origins of the word titmouse. Tit(r) is not an Old English word. It does occur as tittr in Icelandic. It is believed to be of onomatopeic origin as a term for a small animal or object. OE mase is the second element in a number of compounds, the most common of which is titmase=titmouse. It also is combined with col-, cum-, spic-, etc... The element mase (and in Middle English mose) was later corrupted to mouse after the medieval period, in the 16th century, I believe. As far as I can tell, the word mase/mose does not mean bird, per se, since there are other more common OE words for bird. -- - Ron Mura, Boston, Mass. rmura@world.std.com Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com