Posted by Julien Foster on July 25, 1998 at 19:19:36:
In Reply to: Perhaps not? posted by John Richardson on July 25, 1998 at 16:38:56:
The Shorter OED says:
"A dial. and nursery dim. od TEAT, the breast, sp. the mother's breast". Apparently it dates from 1746 and I can confirm it certainly exists in various scandalous Victorian novels I have read.
But even so - I accept that it would not have had the wide currency among children it now enjoys.