Bizzare Facts

We write them every day, but few of us know their name. That tiny, floating dot that sits above the lowercase **'i'** and **'j'** is technically called a **tittle**. The word is derived from the Latin *titulus*, which originally meant an inscription, label, or heading. Over centuries of linguistic evolution, the meaning shifted to refer to a small stroke, accent, or mark used in writing to distinguish letters.

The tittle isn't just a piece of trivia; it's the origin of a common idiom. The phrase **'to a T'** (as in 'it fits you to a T') is widely believed to be a shortening of the older phrase **'to a tittle.'** Since a tittle is the smallest, most precise mark you can make with a pen, doing something 'to a tittle' meant doing it with absolute, minute perfection—down to the very last dot.

So, the next time you are dotting your i's and crossing your t's, remember that you are engaging in an act of 'tittling.' It is a small, seemingly insignificant part of our alphabet that carries a surprisingly heavy linguistic history, proving that even the smallest details in language have a story to tell.