ta ta
- idiom
- /tɑː tɑː/
- UK
- After our wonderful dinner, I said, 'It was great to see you! Ta ta!' and waved goodbye.
Examples
-
He always ends our conversations with a cheerful, 'Ta ta!' before hanging up.
-
As the train pulled away from the station, she shouted, 'Ta ta! I'll see you soon!'
-
I know how to...to deal with the system.
-
I just need some space, I think. - Okay, do you want me to...to go? - [Date]
-
The unfortunate part is they so rarely see it that it's very hard for students to...to visualise, because they've got to crack the code.
-
Uh...you know, I'm... trying to...to change, to not be doing these... the things that I used to do the way I did them and to try and... change into becomin' that person that I'm gonna...
Synonyms
∞
8.4
A friendly way to say goodbye when you expect to meet again
∞
1.0
Words people say when they leave each other
306
1.0
A short word or action people use when they leave each other
279
1.1
A friendly informal way to say goodbye when leaving
95
1.0
A casual goodbye said when leaving someone and expecting to meet again
77
6.3
A casual word for goodbye used when leaving someone
59
1.0
Words or actions people use when they leave
34
7.2
A word people use to say goodbye
24
9.3
A final goodbye you say when leaving for a long time
17
8.9
A friendly way to say goodbye
1
9.9
A playful word people use to say goodbye
1
3.0
A short phrase people say when they leave each other
A friendly informal way to say goodbye when you will see or speak to someone soon
A cheerful informal way to say goodbye
A friendly old-fashioned British way to say goodbye
A playful informal way people say goodbye as a joke
A casual way to say goodbye to someone
A casual way to say goodbye at the end of the day
Antonyms
How Final
Surface Forms
Morphology
ta + ta
Ta ta is a conventionalized, dialectal farewell whose meaning ('goodbye') cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'ta' + 'ta' (the provided headword entries lack independent dictionary meanings). Even if a learner knows 'ta' as an informal 'thanks' in some varieties, simple reduplication does not transparently produce 'goodbye', so the expression is idiomatic and unpredictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The expression ta ta may come from baby talk where the small word ta was said twice while a child waved. That picture of a child saying ta ta made it a friendly, informal way to say 'goodbye'.