Some words just sound naughty, even if they aren’t. Take “jot” and “tittle”. They always make me think of someone snickering, “Yeah, I’d like to jot her tittle . . . .”
But no, they’re not only squeaky clean (well, mostly, there’s a naughty definition of “jot” you’ll have to look up yourself), they’re also quite interesting.
Anyway, let’s look at the old-school definition. In Matthew 5:18, Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
So what is a “jot”? It means the smallest part of the alphabet, the least letter, the smallest bit of writing. So if you say you’re jotting something down, you ain’t writing a dissertation, honey. If you want to insult someone and leave them confused at the same time, just say, “That don’t make a jot of sense.” It is related to the word “iota”, which we’re all familiar with.
A “tittle” is a dot, stroke or point in writing, like the dot over an i or a j, or the cross (no pun intended) over a t.
So there ya go.
Comments? Questions? Leave ‘em below.
