TTFN

:"ttfn redirects here. For the book by Lauren Myracle, see "ttfn.TTFN is an initialism for a colloquial valediction: it stands for Ta Ta For Now. " is akin to 'bye bye'. The expression came to prominence in the UK during the Second World War. "Ta ta" is close in meaning to the French "Au revoir" or the German "Auf Wiedersehen". It is, however, less formal - more like or .

TTFN originates from Morse code (and is still used occasionally in ham radio) as an ending to a transmission but was brought into popular use in the UK in 1941 in the weekly radio comedy "ITMA" by the character Mrs. Mopp. From 1939, initialisms, previously rarely used except by the military, were heard more frequently by the British public. "ITMA" satirized them by coining TTFN, a "pointless" initialism (no easier to say than the phrase on which it was based) and using it as a catchphrase.

Thirty years later, Paul Winchell, following the suggestion of his British third wifeFact|date=October 2008, Jean Freeman, improvised the redundant phrase "TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!" as a signature phrase for the (originally British) character Tigger in the Disney films based on A. A. Milne's book "The House at Pooh Corner". This, in a world now accustomed to them, popularised worldwide a word originally coined to make fun of initialisms.

It was also a phrase used regularly in the later series of the BBC comedy "Only Fools and Horses" by Del Boy and at least once by Corporal Jones (the butcher) in "Dad's Army".

It has been used in various U.S. television programs including "Batman" and "The Simpsons".

In episode 40 of "Goodnight Sweetheart", Gary's wartime wife "Phoebe Sparrow" says to his present day wife "Yvonne Sparrow" "TTFN" when she returns to the 1940s from 1998.

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