Today I found out that the dot over the letter i is called a "tittle." Everything has to have a name, I guess.
This goes for the dot over the letter j, too, I'd imagine. As you can also imagine, my mind didn't stop working at that point.
Speculation has it that the phrase "to a T" comes from the word "tittle." Long before "to a T" became part of the parlance of our times, the phrase "to a tittle" was used.
They shortened it. We're going to get to the bottom of who "they" are in a future email (or future life).
Even our Lord knew about the tittle. In the Gospel According to St Matthew, in the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus was not being "trivial" (like I am on occasion).
"For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:18)
A jot relates to the 10th letter of the Semitic abjads (somewhat like an alphabet, but consonants only). It is typically called "Yodh" and it's sound approximates the letter j in the languages for which it is used.
The Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic languages all use or used a similar letter or concept.
The Greeks came along and had one of the first written alphabets—consonants and vowels. Iota became the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet and was derived from Yodh.
The German, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish name for the letter J (Jot / jota) is derived from iota.
Iota is commonly used in English, as in "not one iota," meaning "not the slightest amount."
Meanwhile the phrase "to dot the i's and cross the t's" is still used, figuratively, to mean "to put the finishing touches on (or to)" or "to be thorough."
Dotting iotas with their tittles.
As always,
Brian
P.S. — The avant-garde visual artist with the Transatlantic accent once said of her doctor friend that he was "a good man, and thorough."
Within my Inner Sphere program we are also thorough. Our associates collaborate with each other and incorporate the principle that we can all make more together as a whole.
For instance, we're concerned with creating ideas that are worth stealing rather than worrying about our own ideas being stolen.
Someone wants to steal my ideas on how to create or cultivate greatness in others? I care not one iota about it.
Thieve away, as far as I'm concerned.
Spots are currently full, but hop on the waiting list, if you'd like.
If someone doesn't dot all their i's or cross their t's, spots from the waiting list will open up immediately…
