English is so eclectic!

Possibly more so than any other language English has, as we all know, a vast and far flung influence from other languages within its accepted vocablarary, whether it be derived from initial roots, invasion or empire.

We have so much more than just Latin and Greek, other obvious influences being old Viking, Roman and French along with later adoptions from the old empire states, such as India.

Anyhoosen, I found out a new one today, a fairly common "English" colloquialism for goodbye being "tattar" or even TTFN. Where did that come from........










Burma! (Myanmar) It is their word for goodbye.

Anyone else come across unexpected origins for words or phrases?

Comments

  • Alan Freeman ?
  • CJ, I had no idea about the origin of that term. Thanks.
    I like that human language is absorbant, and flowing and evolving. And yours is a good example of that.
  • News to me, too.

    And I'm a great user of TTFN in texts and Messaging - mainly to confuse non-Brits, of course.
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