tateleh

   A diminutive form of tata, the Yiddish word for ‘Dad’ or ‘papa’, often used to address a small boy. It is so used in The Storyteller, by Harold Robbins, where a Jewish father says to his son: ‘I’ll see you tonight, tateleh.’ Calling a child ‘little father’ may derive from name-magic beliefs. Attributing age to a young boy was meant to fool the child-hating demons. Leo Rosten, offering this explanation in The Joys of Yiddish, compares the use of bubeleh, used to both sexes, and mameleh, used to little girls. Such usage, however, suggests the inverse address which is common in many languages, discussed under Sirrah. Yiddish endearments are often retained in an English conversation by those acquainted with that language.