Etymology: < Little Tich, stage name of Harry Relph, English music hall comedian and dancer (1867–1928), whose performances played on his unusually short stature.Relph used the name Little Tich professionally from 1884; it represents an alteration of his earlier stage name Young Tichborne, which he used as a child performer from at least 1881 but is said to have acquired as a nickname in early life. This name alludes to the notorious case of the so-called Tichborne claimant (died 1898; now usually identified as Arthur Orton, English sailor (born 1834)), who claimed in 1866 to be Roger Charles Tichborne (1829–54), heir to an English baronetcy who was lost at sea; the Tichborne claimant was eventually discredited and imprisoned for perjury in 1874. Since the Tichborne claimant was obese at the height of his fame, it has been suggested that Relph may have acquired this nickname by virtue of a stout build in early childhood. However, it is possible that the name was an ironic allusion to his diminutive stature.

Etymology: Representing a regional and colloquial pronunciation of touch n.