come to papa

phrase
/ˌkʌm tə ˈpɑːpə/UK/ˌkʌm tə ˈpɑːpə/US

Etymology

PIE word *ph₂tḗr From come + to + papa (“familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father”), originally an invitation by a father for his child to come to him; later called out by gamblers when throwing dice to “invite” winning numbers.

Definitions

  1. Used to encourage someone or something to approach, or an event to occur.

    • Cut loose, let your hair down, honey / Unwind, turn the lights down low / Relax, let's uncork the stopper / Come to papa, come on, let's go
  2. Alternative letter-case form of come to papa.

    • I poked my head in the den just as Josh threw down a winning hand and yelled, “Yes! Come to Papa!” He swept the chips toward him and said, “Now I can pay for a real honeymoon!”

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for come to papa. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA