TTFN
{{Short description|Initialism meaning "goodbye"}}
{{redir|ttfn|the book by Lauren Myracle|ttfn (book)}}
{{Wiktionary|TTFN}}
TTFN is an initialism for "ta ta for now", an informal "goodbye". The expression came to prominence in the UK during the Second World War. Used by the military, it was frequently heard by the British public.
"TTFN" was introduced in 1940 in the British weekly radio comedy It's That Man Again by the character Mrs Mopp, who ended every scene with it.{{Cite book|last1=Cryer |first1=Max |authorlink=Max Cryer |title=Who said that first? : The Curious Origins of Common Words and Phrases |year=2010 |publisher=Exisle Pub. |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-908988-91-4 |pages=281–282}}{{citation|year=2003 |last=Partridge |first=Eric |page=1294 |title=A Dictionary of Catch Phrases: British and American, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U2IAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1294 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134929986}}{{Cite book|last=Street |first=Seán |title=A Concise History of British Radio, 1922-2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7jo0IcUZeoC&q=ttfn&pg=PA75 |publisher=Kelly Publications |year=2002 |isbn=9781903053140 |pages=74–75}}{{OEtymD|ta-ta|accessdate=January 17, 2017}} During the second series, the show's name was shortened to ITMA, to satirize the abundance of abbreviations that were becoming common knowledge due to the ongoing war.{{cite journal|last=Daniels|first=Morgan|title=The Effects Of 'Antiestablishment' BBC Comedy On Politicians, The Public And Broadcasting Values C.1939-73|date=September 2011|url=https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2415/1/DANIELSEffectsOf2011.doc|location=University of London|format=doc|quote=The new, abbreviated title, for example, was a nod to the flurry of acronymous (and anonymous) bodies disseminating orders at will.}}
Other usage
In the 1966 Batman television episode "Better Luck Next Time", Catwoman (played by the actress Julie Newmar) states "TTFN" in a microphone to Batman (Adam West) while he is high upon a wall while being stalked by her tiger, Tinkerbell, and then she has to further explain the meaning of the initialism to the puzzled Batman.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519460/quotes Memorable quotes for] Batman, "Better Luck Next Time" (1966) on Internet Movie Database
In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, a 1968 Disney featurette, the voice of Tigger was performed by Paul Winchell, whose wife Jean Freeman suggested that he ad-lib the line.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/movies/27winc.html |work=The New York Times | title=Paul Winchell, 82, TV Host and Film Voice of Pooh's Tigger, Dies |first=Julie |last=Salamon |date=2005-06-27 |accessdate=2010-05-22}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062601247.html |title=TV Ventriloquist, Cartoon Voice And Inventor Paul Winchell Dies |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Bernstein |first=Adam |date=27 June 2005 |access-date=23 October 2020}} It was further used by Tigger in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988–1991), often followed by a "hoo hoo hoo hoo!" as he bounces away on his tail. Tigger also uses variations of the word, in the episode Tigger is the Mother of Invention he says "TTFG. Ta-ta for good", and in The Tigger Movie "TTFE. Ta-ta For Ever". However, the phrase does not appear in the original books by A. A. Milne.
It appears in the 1980 children's book 'Quest for the Gloop' by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski
Tim Horton, the deceased professional hockey player and founder of the Tim Horton's Doughnut chain, has "TTFN" on his grave stone.[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=10450&PIpi=769366 Tim Horton on Find A Grave]
On the sitcom Bewitched, the character Endora used the phrase TTFN before vanishing into thin air.
"Ta ta for now" caught on with the British public so much that it was often uttered by dying people as their last words.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7676195.stm "How radio comedy changed a nation"] BBC News Magazine, 17 October 2008 It has been the catchphrase of radio personalities such as Jimmy Young, who modified it to BFN: "Bye for now".{{cite news|title=In Depth – Newsmakers – Jimmy Young: Too old? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmakers/1634802.stm |work=BBC News |date=2 November 2001 |accessdate=16 September 2012}}
In the 1990s, TTFN was still being used in online chat such as IRC and MUDs.[http://slang.uoregon.edu/pub_search.lasso?RecordIDNumber=11396&Process=detail01 "ttfn" in The Interactive Linguistics Databases Project for Lower-division Instruction and Student Research], University of Oregon[http://www.catb.org/jargon/oldversions/jarg2911.txt talk mode] in the Jargon File v.2.9.11, 1 January 1993
The young adult novel ttfn by Lauren Myracle was released in 2005. The frequently challenged novel is written entirely in the style of instant messaging.{{Cite web |last=Office for Intellectual Freedom |date=2013-03-26 |title=Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists |url=http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 |access-date=2021-03-06 |website=American Library Association |language=en}}