tittynope

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Noun === tittynope (plural tittynopes) (very rare) A small amount left over; a modicum. === References === === Further reading === Joseph Wright, editor (1905), “TITTYNOPE, sb.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume VI (T–Z, Supplement, Bibliography and Grammar), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 170, column 1: “Yks. A small quantity of anything left over, esp. a small bundle of corn in gleaning. Cf. titty-mouse, sb.2”