Here I want to introduce a word called "ta-ta". Of course we have great entrepreneurs with this surname in India, however they are no where related. ta-ta is an Indian version of the word Bye, where you say the word and wave your hand. Both of these words (ta-ta and bye) are used in India, considering the westernisation.
From childhood days, in India, we have been taught to say ta-ta looking at an airplane in the sky or when we are going out of home on work where you do not see that person for a while. I was wondering how did this word end up in India, which has no meaning and with a gesture of bye. Lot of research yielded zero results but my trip to the UK gave me the answer I was looking for and here are my thoughts.
In the UK, mostly London, where the life is so fast, people cut short most of the words. To illustrate - for each help or service you do, you are greeted with words like "Thankyou" or "Cheers". Now if they want to cut short the word "Thankyou" because they are saying it for multiple times, they would simply say "ta". This triggered the answer to the question I had and it was so simple.
When British were leaving India after giving independence, they were waving their hands and saying "Thankyou" to the people gathered at the airport whilst boarding the airplane. At this time, they had to say the word "Thankyou" multiple times and it was cut short to "ta" which sounded "ta-ta-ta" by waving their hands. This was observed and absorbed as "ta-ta" with waving hands by the Indians whilst looking at an airplane. Hence Indians started to use this word by saying "ta-ta" with waving hands at the airplane. This was passed on to the next generations without an explanation. Therefore even today, most of the kids are pointed towards the airplanes and taught to say "ta-ta" with waving hands which will continue into their adult life and is passed on to their kids too. So here, I have tried to explain how this word came into existence. Thus, bye == ta-ta!
From childhood days, in India, we have been taught to say ta-ta looking at an airplane in the sky or when we are going out of home on work where you do not see that person for a while. I was wondering how did this word end up in India, which has no meaning and with a gesture of bye. Lot of research yielded zero results but my trip to the UK gave me the answer I was looking for and here are my thoughts.
In the UK, mostly London, where the life is so fast, people cut short most of the words. To illustrate - for each help or service you do, you are greeted with words like "Thankyou" or "Cheers". Now if they want to cut short the word "Thankyou" because they are saying it for multiple times, they would simply say "ta". This triggered the answer to the question I had and it was so simple.
When British were leaving India after giving independence, they were waving their hands and saying "Thankyou" to the people gathered at the airport whilst boarding the airplane. At this time, they had to say the word "Thankyou" multiple times and it was cut short to "ta" which sounded "ta-ta-ta" by waving their hands. This was observed and absorbed as "ta-ta" with waving hands by the Indians whilst looking at an airplane. Hence Indians started to use this word by saying "ta-ta" with waving hands at the airplane. This was passed on to the next generations without an explanation. Therefore even today, most of the kids are pointed towards the airplanes and taught to say "ta-ta" with waving hands which will continue into their adult life and is passed on to their kids too. So here, I have tried to explain how this word came into existence. Thus, bye == ta-ta!
