Tough Titties

[Doolallygirl]

Where on earth does this phrase come from?!

[Quizmonster]

It started life as American slang in the 1950s in the form of 'tough tiddy'. The two letters 'd' were sometimes replaced by two letters 't'. It makes about the same amount of sense as lots of similar Americanisms, such as 'tough excreta'...I deliberately use the polite form of the concept! I suppose the alliteration of three 't' sounds appealed to them.

[natalie_1982]

So what's a tiddy?

[Quizmonster]

Simply an Americanised form of the double-T version of the word commonly used in Britain, Natalie, as presented in plural form in the question!

[buchanan]

Don't some people talk about tid-bits rather than tit-bits to mean a something little and nice / a treat. Perhaps the tid / tit thing has something to do with that?

[Quizmonster]

In American slang, 'tiddy' never meant anything but 'breast'!