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#177620 - 06/20/08 10:29 AM Etymology of 'toddler'
stranger
Registered: 06/20/08
Posts: 4
Loving girlfriend: "Yeah, it's because the kid toddles around."
Me: "A common misconception. It's because the kid has reached the age to drink beer from a 'tod' - a stein."
Loving (though now dubious) girlfriend: "No, it's not."
Me: "Here, let me prove it."
Me: searches Internet high and low for vindication. Finds none.
So, my question to you, dear readers, is this: whence did this crazy idea pop into my head? I don't think I merely dreamt it. I hope you can help me regain my sanity and unbruise my ego.
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#177633 - 06/20/08 06:20 PM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13653
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#177635 - 06/20/08 07:22 PM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3268
Loc: R'lyeh
The science fiction writer Harlan Ellison said he most often asked where he gets his ideas. He tells these folks Schenectady.
I note that tod is a (mainly British) weight term: "1. A unit of weight for wool, especially one equivalent to about 28 pounds (12.7 kilograms). 2. A bushy clump, as of ivy." A-H (link). Cockney rhyming slang has tod 'own' from Tod Sloane. (I am unfamiliar with the tod equals stein of beer; what language is that?) English toddy comes from Hindi tāṛī 'juice of the palmyra tree'. The derivation of toddler from toddle is unproblematic. Maybe toddler comes from German Tod because infants are the death of their parents._________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#177638 - 06/20/08 07:56 PM
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 08/27/02
Posts: 2154
Loc: British Columbia, Canada
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#177641 - 06/20/08 09:10 PM
old hand
Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 1067
Loc: Tasmania
topple becomes tottle, which gives rise to tottler, which would naturally change in pronunciation over time to toddler. And then the verb toddle comes from the noun toddler, not the other way round? Just an idea.
Totītle (tǒtīt'l) v. i. 1. To walk in a wavering, unsteady manner; to toddle; to topple.
[imp. & p. p. Tottled (tǒt"t'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Tottling (tǒt"tlĭng).] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co.
top·ple \ˈtä-pəl\
Etymology:frequentative of top
Date:1590
intransitive verb: to fall from or as if from being top-heavy
transitive verb1: to cause to topple
In any case, whether the above is possible or not, the OP should remember that the woman is always right (even when she's not!).
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#177653 - 06/21/08 05:12 PM
newbie
Registered: 11/22/07
Posts: 33
Loc: California, USA
Edited by Bigwig Rabbit (06/21/08 05:13 PM)_________________________
http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home
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#177654 - 06/21/08 07:24 PM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13653
Since one who drinks enough from a stein will degenerate to toddling, why not?
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#177655 - 06/21/08 08:23 PM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 3268
Loc: R'lyeh
Stein's an interesting word. It's from German Steinkrug 'stone(ware) jug'. But the jug part got left off and the stone part got in._________________________
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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#177656 - 06/21/08 08:29 PM
addict
Registered: 10/24/05
Posts: 557
Loc: Dallas, TX
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#177658 - 06/21/08 08:46 PM
newbie
Registered: 11/22/07
Posts: 33
Loc: California, USA
Edited by Bigwig Rabbit (06/21/08 08:53 PM)_________________________
http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home
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#207641 - 10/12/12 09:33 PM
stranger
Registered: 10/12/12
Posts: 1
Loc: Tucson, AZ
I learned a similar story in Pediatric Residency. As I learned it, toddler derives from TOT (a small measure of rum). When one was a TOTTLER, one drank too many tots and stumbled. An infant was a small measure of an adult and also stumbled like a tottler. Hence the terms Tot and Toddler.
Google searches through the decades have failed to find supporting evidence, but it is still a fun story to tell new parents (with a historic-accuracy disclaimer)
PSTMD
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#207642 - 10/12/12 10:40 PM
addict
Registered: 05/10/10
Posts: 690
Loc: Alaska
Peter
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#207644 - 10/13/12 03:11 AM
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 09/21/10
Posts: 1705
Loc: down under
If a tot is a small measure of 'spirits' one would need a few to get toddled.
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#207647 - 10/13/12 11:48 AM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 5268
Loc: Land of the Flat Water
----please, draw me a sheep----
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#207648 - 10/13/12 11:51 AM
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 5248
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
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