tittynope

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

Originally Yorkshire dialect for a small quantity of grain in gleaning. EDD gives titty-mouse, found in West Yorkshire, as a synonym; the same word has an additional meaning of titmouse (“small bird, chickadee”) in the dialects of Lancashire and Norfolk, and is likely a variant thereof. By analogy, tittynope might be from tit (“chickadee; bit, morsel”) + -y + nope (“bullfinch, titmouse”). Note that "tit-nope" is attested dialectally, referring to the blue tit. On the other hand, some websites give a derivation from tittle (“dot of the letter i; modicum, speck”). There are many similar-sounding words meaning "small" such as itty-bitty and little, so the first part of the word could simply be an example of sound symbolism; although if the etymology above is correct, it likely derives from the same source as the bird tit.