TTFN is an

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for a

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

valediction A valediction (Derivation (linguistics), derivation from Latin ''vale dicere'', "to say farewell"), or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message,

, "ta ta for now", based on "

ta ta Tata or TATA may refer to: Places * Jamshedpur, a city in Jharkhand, India also known as Tatanagar or Tata * Tata, Hungary, a town in Hungary * Tata Islands, a pair of small islands off the coast of New Zealand * Tata, Morocco, a city in Tat ...

", an informal "goodbye". The expression came to prominence in the UK during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Used by the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, it was frequently heard by the British public. "Ta-ta for now" was brought into popular use in the UK in 1940 in the weekly radio comedy ''

It's That Man Again ''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...

'' by the character Mrs Mopp, who ended every scene with it. 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. In the 1966 ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' television episode "Better Luck Next Time",

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

(played by the actress

Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer, August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real-estate mogul. She won the Tony ...

) 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 acronym to the puzzled Batman. In ''

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day ''Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day'' is a 1968 American animation, animated featurette based on the third, fifth, ninth, and tenth chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh (book), Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the second, eighth, and ninth chapters from ''The Ho ...

'', a 1968 Disney featurette, the voice of

Tigger Tigger is a fictional character, fictional character, an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Stuffed toy, stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection ''The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie- ...

was performed by

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

, whose wife Jean Freeman suggested that he

ad-lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...

the line. It was further used by Tigger in ''

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the fi ...

'' (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 ''The Tigger Movie'' is a 2000 animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc., written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzeli ...

"TTFE. Ta-ta For Ever". However, the phrase does not appear in the original books by

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

. It appears in the 1980 children's book 'Quest for the Gloop' by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski

Tim Horton Miles Gilbert "Tim" Horton (January 12, 1930 – February 21, 1974) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played 24 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburg ...

, the deceased professional hockey player and founder of the Tim Horton's Doughnut chain, has "TTFN" on his grave stone. On the sitcom ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'', 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. It has been the catchphrase of radio personalities such as Jimmy Young, who modified it to BFN: "Bye for now". TTFN is still used in online chat such as

IRC Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and ...

and

MUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

s.talk mode
in the

Jargon File The Jargon File is a glossary and usage dictionary of slang used by computer programmers. The original Jargon File was a collection of terms from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) and others of the old ARPANET A ...

v.2.9.11, 1 January 1993

References

{{Reflist Parting phrases Initialisms