Tak Ta Tum

	TA
	A slang word for Thanks. The word is a result of the heavy Danish influence on the English language. Most people do not realize that the English language roots are really Danish or Jutland. Equiped with this knowledge this word is easy to decipher. The Danish word for Thanks is tak. In Scotland and upper England it was common to drop the k at the end because of the way words were pronounced during the time of old English and Middle English. Hence the slang word "Ta" which should actually be pronounced "TA-k" but over time became "Ta" is really Tak meaning "Thanks". (www.urbandictionary.com) Never teach your baby or toddler to say "ta" instead of "please" or "thank you".  You will regret it!  When my son Thomas was little, we taught him to say "ta", eventhough he was spoke clearly and likely could have handled "please" or "thank you".  He became really good at it.  Slowly, the "ta" was corrupted to "tum".  I waited too long to teach him the real words.  And then when it was time to learn the proper terms, Thomas resisted.  He cried and cried when he didn't get something because he said "tum" rather than "please".  It took us months before we got the word "ta" or "tum" out of his vocabulary.  Unfortunately, by this point, his sister Jacqueline started using "ta".  Once again, we had a hard time weaning "ta" from her vocabulary.  Finally, we had two "ta"-free children.  However, the disease was infectious:  now I couldn't stop using "ta" since I had used it for so many years.  The word would just slip out unintentionally.  Now Jacqueline is 8 years old and every so often that dreaded word still escapes from my lips.  So, if you find yourself teaching your child "ta", think again.  You don't want the dreaded "ta" disease!