TOUGH TITTIES-where on earth did this saying originate?

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Ok-Credit-8251@reddit

I suppose it's better than my son who at 18....months asked outright at the top of his voice whilst on a packed bus for his tittie and proceeded to try get in to my top. He's in his 30's now but nothing much has changed he always seems to go for big breasted women.

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Working-Hat4932@reddit

I remember hearing it said it Vicar of Dibley by dawn french !

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SasiBan@reddit

"Nice bra, hope it'll fit a tough titty bitch, life's hard" - Eminem 2010

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pc_geezer@reddit

Well from what I heard, breasts are like big bags of sand

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theroch_@reddit (OP)

They can be haha

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alijkf@reddit

Uh-oh, I feel a sequel coming on...

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DownrightDrewski@reddit

Can they? I've felt a fair variety of tits in my life, and none behave like a bag of sand - just completely different physics. One is particles flowing individually, the other is a mass of connected particles moving and influencing each other.

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PsychologicalDrone@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/807sa3u0fmjf1.jpeg?width=474&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27418d151fdd2649e31fe6cf5d50390e4f5a99ba

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jimmywhereareya@reddit

It's tough tit where I'm from. Is it supposed to be less offensive than tough shit?

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paulmclaughlin@reddit

It has all the signs of being a minced oath to me.

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willybarrow@reddit

Milking cows I imagine

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bribri4120@reddit

Hard cheese was another that I grew up with.

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slappykerplunk@reddit

I’m incredibly disappointed that the top comment isn’t just ‘your mum’

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douggieball1312@reddit

It always feels like something Jim Carrey would say.

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UptheCreekWithPaddle@reddit

I grew up in the GTA at the same time as Carrey. That was something we said. The GTA was more atuned to the UK in those times.

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Arnoave@reddit

Hard honkers

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Broad-Raspberry1805@reddit

I first heard it in a production of The Little Shop of Horrors, the talking plant said it. It’s the only thing I can remember about the show.

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ARobertNotABob@reddit

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/56122/what-is-the-etymology-of-tough-titty

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LubeTornado@reddit

Breasts used to be used in warfare. However, before such campaigns could be undertaken they need to be toughened to withstand arrow volleys, spears or even bullets. The titties or tiddies in particular were regularly used to penetrate thick armour plating such as the one found Persian vanguard or the German Tiger tank Hence the expression 'tough tiddies'

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AskUK-ModTeam@reddit

A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question.

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h00dman@reddit

The first time I heard it was from my mate Howard back in 2002. He was quite gobby and despite being quite short he made up for it with bravado. Anyway one day one of the bigger kids was trying to give him a hard time, demanding something from him etc, and Howard just stands up, looks him in the eye and says "Tough titties, you cretin!" I've never seen someone deflate so quickly as that bigger kid did in that moment, and I remember it so vividly over 20 years later.

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jimmywhereareya@reddit

I'm guessing that your mate grew up to suffer from little man syndrome too...lol

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InspectionDistinct14@reddit

The phrase "tough titties" likely originates from a longer, rhyming expression, possibly "tough titty said the pretty kitty wallowing in pity". Another variation includes "tough titty said the old women on the subcommittee in Kansas city". The phrase is a dismissive and unsympathetic way of saying "too bad" or "deal with it". The phrase's meaning, while seemingly crude, is thought to be derived from the image of a mother cat weaning her kittens. When the milk dries up and the nipples become tougher, the kittens' demands for milk are met with a dismissive "tough luck". This imagery of the mother cat and her milk is also present in other variants of the phrase, such as "tough titty said the kitty, but the milk is still good

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theroch_@reddit (OP)

Did you know this already or did you google it?

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boing_boing_splat@reddit

100% copy pasted from gpt.

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InspectionDistinct14@reddit

No i copied it from google , not gpt.

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boing_boing_splat@reddit

Why not just link to the page then? Feels a bit weird just copying verbatim 🤔

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InspectionDistinct14@reddit

Because it was a summarisation. Why are you being so anal about it? Someone’s really pissed in your cornflakes today

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boing_boing_splat@reddit

I don't eat cereals lad.

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InspectionDistinct14@reddit

I knew it but Googled the blurb to save me typing

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theroch_@reddit (OP)

!answered . Thanks, that makes sense.

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MultiColouredHex@reddit

Aye I found similar [here ](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/tough_titty_said_the_kitty)

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purply_otter@reddit

...what a great question. According to chatgpt: The Chambers Slang Dictionary dates its colloquial usage back to the 1920s, noting variants like hard titty, tough tiddy, tough tit, tough titties, and tough tits, all expressing a dismissive sense of "bad luck".

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Wind_U_Up@reddit

That's the context not the origin...

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theroch_@reddit (OP)

That’s interesting, why tits though?

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TheRiddlerTHFC@reddit

Because everything is better with tits

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Wind_U_Up@reddit

It originates when a child is over fed from the breast and wants more but the mother stops it because of her sore nipples /toughened nipples. Tough tatties....

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ukbot-nicolabot@reddit

[OP marked this as the best answer](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1msxprl/tough_tittieswhere_on_earth_did_this_saying/n97tdnu/), given by /u/InspectionDistinct14. > The phrase "tough titties" likely originates from a longer, rhyming expression, possibly "tough titty said the pretty kitty wallowing in pity". Another variation includes "tough titty said the old women on the subcommittee in Kansas city". The phrase is a dismissive and unsympathetic way of saying "too bad" or "deal with it". > The phrase's meaning, while seemingly crude, is thought to be derived from the image of a mother cat weaning her kittens. When the milk dries up and the nipples become tougher, the kittens' demands for milk are met with a dismissive "tough luck". This imagery of the mother cat and her milk is also present in other variants of the phrase, such as "tough titty said the kitty, but the milk is still good --- [_^(What is this?)_](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/jjrte1/askuk_hits_200k_new_feature_mark_an_answer/)

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PNWest01@reddit

Tough titties, said the kitty, but the milk’s still good.

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hangover_holmes@reddit

For some reason I remember it as 'Tough titty toenails'. Which just brings up more questions.

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Weary_Rule_6729@reddit

also Tough Titties with knobs on

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MandaZePanda84@reddit

Haha I say this to my daughter all the time she finds it hilarious as she’s only 5 but I’m gonna have to see if I can find the origin now

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theroch_@reddit (OP)

Please do, I’m intrigued

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bigmustard69@reddit

I suppose it’s politer than saying tough shit

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