Edit in JSFiddle

<ul>
    <li>Item 1</li>
    <li>Item 2</li>
    <li>Item 3</li>
    <li>Item 4</li>
</ul>

(function() {
    // Create a Tooltip control that takes:
    //   - html - the html for the tooltip
    //   - relativeTo - which element to position this tooltip relative to
    var Tooltip = can.Control.extend({
      init : function(){
        // we'll use this offset to position this.element
        var offset = this.options.relativeTo.offset();
        // set the html
        this.element.html(this.options.html)
            // add a class for styling
            .addClass("tooltip")
            // append to the offsetParent so scrolling works better
            .appendTo(this.options.relativeTo.offsetParent() )
            // set the position of the tooltip
            .offset({ 
                left: offset.left+this.options.relativeTo.width(),
                top: offset.top-this.options.relativeTo.height() / 2
        })               
      },
      // listen for any click on the window
      '{window} click': function( el, ev ) {
        // hide only if we clicked outside the tooltip
        // or outside the relative element
        if (!this.element.has( ev.target ).length &&
            ev.target !== this.element[0] &&
            ev.target !== this.options.relativeTo[0] ) {
          this.element.remove();
        }
      }
    })
    
    // Listen and create a tooltip widget
    $("li").bind("click", function(){
        new Tooltip( $("<div>"), {
          relativeTo : $(this),
          html : "tooltip"
        })
    })
})();

@import url(http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lato:100,400,700);

* {
	font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif;
    font-size: 12px;
    text-shadow: 0 -1px 0 #ffffff;
}
.tooltip {
   position: absolute;
   width: 200px;
   height: 50px;
   padding: 5px;
   background: #333;
    text-shadow: 0 -1px 0 #666;
    color: #fff;
   -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
   -moz-border-radius: 5px;
   border-radius: 5px;
    -moz-box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.26);
	-webkit-box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.26);
	box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.26);
}
.tooltip:before { 
    content: "";
    border-top: 10px solid transparent;
	border-bottom: 10px solid transparent; 
	border-right:10px solid #333; 
    display: block;
    height: 0;
    width: 0;
    position: absolute;
	top: 5px;
	left: -10px;
}
li {
   font-weight: bold;
   width: 80px;
   border: solid 1px #eee; 
   margin: 5px;
   padding: 5px;
   cursor: pointer;
   position: relative;
}
li:hover {
    background: #999;
    color: #fff;
    text-shadow: 0 -1px 0 #666;
}