Ta.....

Ta. Upon arriving in New Zealand I soon noticed that some of my lab colleagues would say "ta" instead of  "thank you". I'm not sure why but I really like the way it sounds and am trying to incorporate into my everyday speech. Thus far I've had limited success and usually just default to "thank you", "thank you so much", "thank you very much", "thanks", or the occasion throwback to my time in Mexico, "gracias". Nevertheless I'm determined to get "ta" into my vocabulary. Looking up the etymology I learned that it comes from the Danish word "tak" to say "thanks" but people have shortened it to "ta" and use it very informally. Since it caught my ear I've paid attention to when people use it. You'll hear someone say "ta" if you do some very small kindness like holding the door for him/her or passing something across the table. And once in awhile I'll greet a colleague in the morning and ask "how are you?" and he/she might respond, "good, ta". There's just something about that little word that makes me smile. Ta! :)