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Glite Dictionary
tough titty

tough titty

1 9.9
A short rude reply showing you do not care about someone's problem
  • idiom
  • /tʌf ˈtɪti/
  • Offensive
translation icon : pues te jodes
  • Apple, if you don't like the dialer, tough titty.

Examples

  • So it's just a bit of bit of tough titties, isn't it?

  • They don't... - Tough titty.

    After Hours (1985)

  • But if it if it's Shank City, I mean, it's tough titties here at the I've Had it podcast studio Think things go eggshell quiet.

  • If you think I'm going to help you after that, tough titty for you.

  • You missed the deadline, so tough titty; there's nothing I can do now.

  • She complained about the unfair rules, but I said tough titty and moved on.

Synonyms

tough
vstough titty
403 3.8

Emotionally strong and not easily moved by feelings

is a rude phrase that shows blunt refusal to offer sympathy

Antonyms

sympathy
273 1.8

Feeling of understanding and sharing another person's sadness

empathy
154 3.2

Ability to understand and share another person's feelings and experiences

Surface Forms

tough titty singular
tough titties plural

Morphology

tough + titty

This is a colloquial, vulgar idiom whose meaning ('too bad' / unsympathetic dismissal) cannot be derived from the literal words 'tough' and 'titty' even if a learner knows them; the second constituent is slang/unclear in dictionary data and the phrase functions pragmatically. The expression is language-specific and idiomatic rather than compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would not reliably infer the intended dismissive meaning.

Etymology

Tough titty comes from a rude image: a titty (breast) that is tough and gives no comfort, so the person gets no sympathy. That's why it means 'too bad' or 'I don't care'.