{"id":3952,"date":"2025-06-14T13:14:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=3952"},"modified":"2025-06-14T13:14:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T13:14:55","slug":"adventures-in-etymology-jots-tittles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=3952","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Etymology &#8211; Jots &#038; Tittles"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Jots &amp;#038; Tittles\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2025-06-14T13:14:55+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M12S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we jot down a jot or two about jots (and tittles).\n\n\n\nA jot [\u02a4\u0252t \/ \u02a4\u0251t] is:\n\n\n  The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota.\n  A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit. E.g. He didn't care a ...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.3\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6156\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3952-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=3952-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"jot.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we <strong>jot<\/strong> down a <strong>jot<\/strong> or two about <strong>jots<\/strong> (and <strong>tittles<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/craftapalooza\/2225856192\/in\/photolist-4oG6uU-2nX1sWE-21xS9eG-88L9pP-d35a61-Psdpum-jZVgTq-Psdpcs-BpUWj-89J4Bb-kwaZN-kwaZM-3jRfzF-ciNZPf-JUjA47-55MkoX-JUjDsS-62xHoe-kBzY7-KdosTR-48Z7uN-kwaZL-2ovhn-pz7aVv-6kyQ2p-d6VvaQ-HgfVzW-dx5pJN-9qxCNx-KhsmzG-qeivqE-KdoqQx-dXXBJn-97csvb-4WfDY-8QxYhz-8QB5jY-aioZEt-qPp3z-d32fcd-2kwJEpP-4XShB-26UUrkJ-5yUgC-54EHX-Khsn9N-5fMMb-5eo8V-7vz3DG-5Dety\" title=\"gocco moleskine - jotter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/2061\/2225856192_c5bee0debb_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"512\" alt=\"gocco moleskine - jotter\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>jot<\/strong> [\u02a4\u0252t \/ \u02a4\u0251t] is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota.<\/li>\n<li>A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit. E.g. <em>He didn&#8217;t care a <strong>jot<\/strong> for his work.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>A brief and hurriedly written note.<\/li>\n<li>An instant, a moment. (<em>obsolete<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And <strong>to jot (down)<\/strong> means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to write (something) quickly; to make a brief note of (something). E.g. <em>I will <strong>jot<\/strong> it down in my jotter.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>jote<\/em> (jot, tittle, whit), from Latin <em>i\u014dta<\/em> (iota &#8211; a Greek letter), from Ancient Greek <em>\u1f30\u1ff6\u03c4\u03b1<\/em> (i\u00f4ta &#8211; the 9th letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet (\u0399\u03b9), a very small part of writing, a jot), from Phoenician <strong>\ud802\udd09<\/strong> (yodh \/ y\u202c &#8211; the 10th letter of the Phoenician abjad), ultimately from the Ancient Egytian hieroglyph \ud80c\udc9d (arm) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/jot_and_tittle#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Related words include <strong>jotter<\/strong> (a memordandum book, exercise book, someone who jots), <strong>jotting<\/strong> (a brief note or sketch), and <strong>jotty<\/strong> (written as, or like, a brief informal sketch) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/jot#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>The expression (every) <strong>jot and tittle<\/strong> means a small detail, or the smallest details [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/%E1%BC%B0%E1%BF%B6%CF%84%CE%B1#Ancient_Greek\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>tittle<\/strong> is any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j. A small, insignificant amount (of something); a modicum or speck. [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/tittle#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Related words include <strong>tittle-tattle(r)<\/strong> (an idle gossip, a trifling talker, to engage in\/spread gossip), <strong>tittle-tattling<\/strong> (idle gossip) <strong>title<\/strong>, and <strong>tilde<\/strong> (e.g. ~, as used on \u00e3, \u00f1, \u00f5, etc.).<\/p>\n<p>You can also listen to this podcast on: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/radio-omniglot\/id1432641094\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/8b1b1d1b-b39e-4277-b28d-479a3b5043b3\/radio-omniglot\">Amazon Music<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/podcasts\/Education-Podcasts\/Radio-Omniglot-p1154145\/\">TuneIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.podchaser.com\/podcasts\/radio-omniglot-716327\">Podchaser<\/a>, <a href=\"<a href=\"https:\/\/podbay.fm\/p\/radio-omniglot\">Podbay<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podtail.com\/da\/podcast\/radio-omniglot\/\">Podtail<\/a> and other pod places.<\/p>\n<p>The theme tune for this podcast is <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/simon-ager\/the-unexpected-badger\">The Unexpected Badger \/ Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl<\/a>, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2017.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/339162597&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/simon-ager\" title=\"Simon Ager\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\">Simon Ager<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/simon-ager\/the-unexpected-badger\" title=\"The Unexpected Badger \/ Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\">The Unexpected Badger \/ Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl<\/a><\/div>\n<p>If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/uk\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=aLjPfXL-vP_1gQ_U23Iz8_hSWLlhzLHPMFZrt32dIEfG8htoNFLYaPoWkv8&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63\">PayPal<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/omniglot\">Patreon<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/donations.htm\">contribute to Omniglot in other ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with <a href=\"https:\/\/blubrry.com\/services\/podcast-hosting\/?code=omniglot\">Blubrry Podcast Hosting<\/a>, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code <strong>omniglot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/\">Omniglot Blog<\/a>, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/\">Celtiadur<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Jots &amp;#038; Tittles\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2025-06-14T13:14:55+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M12S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we jot down a jot or two about jots (and tittles).\n\n\n\nA jot [\u02a4\u0252t \/ \u02a4\u0251t] is:\n\n\n  The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota.\n  A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit. E.g. He didn't care a ...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.3\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6157\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3952-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=3952-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/jot.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"jot.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we jot down a jot or two about jots (and tittles). A jot [\u02a4\u0252t \/ \u02a4\u0251t] is: The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota. A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit. E.g. He didn&#8217;t care a jot for his work. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,253,97,20,56,4,50,58,11,252,1],"tags":[90,249,9,15,88,8,250,251,103],"class_list":["post-3952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-etymology","category-ancient-egyptian","category-ancient-greek-","category-english","category-etymology","category-language","category-latin","category-middle-english","category-music","category-phoenician","category-podcast","tag-etymology","tag-jot","tag-language","tag-music","tag-omniglot","tag-podcast","tag-tittle","tag-tittle-tattle","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3954,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3952\/revisions\/3954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}